diff --git a/Lib/dis.py b/Lib/dis.py
index 48a6ab8e41..86a03ce4bb 100644
--- a/Lib/dis.py
+++ b/Lib/dis.py
@@ -572,9 +572,13 @@ def _test():
 
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
     parser.add_argument('infile', type=argparse.FileType('rb'), nargs='?', default='-')
+    parser.add_argument('-c', type=str, nargs='?', help="program passed in as string")
     args = parser.parse_args()
-    with args.infile as infile:
-        source = infile.read()
+    if args.c:
+        source = args.c
+    else:
+        with args.infile as infile:
+            source = infile.read()
     code = compile(source, args.infile.name, "exec")
     dis(code)