diff --git a/rc/tools/grep.kak b/rc/tools/grep.kak
index 25062f38..7233d02e 100644
--- a/rc/tools/grep.kak
+++ b/rc/tools/grep.kak
@@ -8,13 +8,13 @@ define-command -params .. -file-completion \
     -docstring %{grep [<arguments>]: grep utility wrapper
 All the optional arguments are forwarded to the grep utility} \
     grep %{ evaluate-commands %sh{
+     if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+         set -- "${kak_selection}"
+     fi
+
      output=$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}"/kak-grep.XXXXXXXX)/fifo
      mkfifo ${output}
-     if [ $# -gt 0 ]; then
-         ( ${kak_opt_grepcmd} "$@" | tr -d '\r' > ${output} 2>&1 & ) > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null
-     else
-         ( ${kak_opt_grepcmd} "${kak_selection}" | tr -d '\r' > ${output} 2>&1 & ) > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null
-     fi
+     ( ${kak_opt_grepcmd} "$@" | tr -d '\r' > ${output} 2>&1 & ) > /dev/null 2>&1 < /dev/null
 
      printf %s\\n "evaluate-commands -try-client '$kak_opt_toolsclient' %{
                edit! -fifo ${output} *grep*