diff --git a/src/cfg/cfg.go b/src/cfg/cfg.go
index e1ad5db..1321fbb 100644
--- a/src/cfg/cfg.go
+++ b/src/cfg/cfg.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ type AppSettings struct {
 	VersionMode    bool
 	MetricsPort    int
 	Fail2BanDbPath string
+	Fail2BanSocketPath string
 }
 
 func Parse() *AppSettings {
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ func Parse() *AppSettings {
 	flag.BoolVar(&appSettings.VersionMode, "version", false, "show version info and exit")
 	flag.IntVar(&appSettings.MetricsPort, "port", 9191, "port to use for the metrics server")
 	flag.StringVar(&appSettings.Fail2BanDbPath, "db", "", "path to the fail2ban sqlite database")
+	flag.StringVar(&appSettings.Fail2BanSocketPath, "socket", "", "path to the fail2ban server socket")
 
 	flag.Parse()
 	appSettings.validateFlags()
@@ -31,8 +33,8 @@ func Parse() *AppSettings {
 func (settings *AppSettings) validateFlags() {
 	var flagsValid = true
 	if !settings.VersionMode {
-		if settings.Fail2BanDbPath == "" {
-			fmt.Println("missing flag 'db'")
+		if settings.Fail2BanDbPath == "" && settings.Fail2BanSocketPath == "" {
+			fmt.Println("at least one of the following flags must be provided: 'db', 'socket'")
 			flagsValid = false
 		}
 		if settings.MetricsPort < minServerPort || settings.MetricsPort > maxServerPort {