diff --git a/cli/asc.js b/cli/asc.js
index 7879154234..50d5b95cb5 100644
--- a/cli/asc.js
+++ b/cli/asc.js
@@ -720,13 +720,6 @@ exports.main = function main(argv, options, callback) {
 
   // Prepare output
   if (!args.noEmit) {
-    let hasStdout = false;
-    let hasOutput = args.textFile != null
-                 || args.binaryFile != null
-                 || args.jsFile != null
-                 || args.tsdFile != null
-                 || args.idlFile != null;
-
     if (args.outFile != null) {
       if (/\.was?t$/.test(args.outFile) && args.textFile == null) {
         args.textFile = args.outFile;
@@ -737,6 +730,13 @@ exports.main = function main(argv, options, callback) {
       }
     }
 
+    let hasStdout = false;
+    let hasOutput = args.textFile != null
+                 || args.binaryFile != null
+                 || args.jsFile != null
+                 || args.tsdFile != null
+                 || args.idlFile != null;
+
     // Write binary
     if (args.binaryFile != null) {
       let basename = path.basename(args.binaryFile);