diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/cli.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/cli.py
index 53eb9582b1..058ed49130 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/cli.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/conversion/cli.py
@@ -57,7 +57,8 @@ def check_command_line_options(parser, args, log):
         raise SystemExit(1)
 
     input = os.path.abspath(args[1])
-    if not input.endswith('.recipe') and not os.access(input, os.R_OK):
+    if not input.endswith('.recipe') and not os.access(input, os.R_OK) and not \
+            ('-h' in args or '--help' in args):
         log.error('Cannot read from', input)
         raise SystemExit(1)
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/poppler/__init__.py b/src/calibre/utils/poppler/__init__.py
index c35216e081..5c44a99d8b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/poppler/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/poppler/__init__.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ def get_metadata(stream, cover=True):
     if not title or not title.strip():
         title = _('Unknown')
         if hasattr(stream, 'name'):
-            title = os.path.splitext(stream.name)[0]
+            title = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(stream.name))[0]
     author = doc.author
     authors = string_to_authors(author) if author else  [_('Unknown')]
     creator = doc.creator