diff --git a/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb b/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb
index c44810b99..d4aaaf043 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb
@@ -1,17 +1,20 @@
 require 'puppet/face'
 require 'puppet/parser'
 
 Puppet::Face.define(:parser, '0.0.1') do
  action :validate do
    when_invoked do |*args|
      args.pop
      files = args
-     files << Puppet[:manifest] if files.empty?
+     if files.empty?
+       files << Puppet[:manifest]
+       Puppet.notice "No manifest specified. Validating the default manifest #{Puppet[:manifest]}"
+     end
      files.each do |file|
        Puppet[:manifest] = file
        Puppet::Node::Environment.new(Puppet[:environment]).known_resource_types.clear
      end
      nil
    end
  end
 end