lib/PublicInbox/LeiInput.pm | 25 ++++++++++++++++++-------
 t/lei-import.t              |  2 +-
 t/lei-mark.t                |  4 ++--

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiInput.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiInput.pm
index 93284e8b26756074194bfc6fb1fa87e261393faa..c04fc2f84d1566bc1a609fe5b771d27ca3fb8761 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/LeiInput.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/LeiInput.pm
@@ -14,9 +14,9 @@ 	if (!$fmt) {
 		my $err = $files ? "regular file(s):\n@$files" : '--stdin';
 		return $lei->fail("--$opt_key unset for $err");
 	}
+	return 1 if $fmt eq 'eml';
 	require PublicInbox::MboxLock if $files;
 	require PublicInbox::MboxReader;
-	return 1 if $fmt eq 'eml';
 	# XXX: should this handle {gz,bz2,xz}? that's currently in LeiToMail
 	PublicInbox::MboxReader->reads($fmt) or
 		return $lei->fail("--$opt_key=$fmt unrecognized");
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ # Subclass must define ->input_eml_cb and ->input_mbox_cb
 sub input_fh {
 	my ($self, $ifmt, $fh, $name, @args) = @_;
 	if ($ifmt eq 'eml') {
-		require PublicInbox::Eml;
 		my $buf = do { local $/; <$fh> } //
 			return $self->{lei}->child_error(1 << 8, <<"");
 error reading $name: $!
@@ -60,13 +59,21 @@ 		$lei->{net}->nntp_each($input, $self->can('input_net_cb'),
 					$self, @args);
 		return;
 	}
-	$input =~ s!\A([a-z0-9]+):!!i and $ifmt = lc($1);
+	if ($input =~ s!\A([a-z0-9]+):!!i) {
+		$ifmt = lc($1);
+	} elsif ($input =~ /\.(?:patch|eml)\z/i) {
+		$ifmt = 'eml';
+	}
 	my $devfd = $lei->path_to_fd($input) // return;
 	if ($devfd >= 0) {
 		$self->input_fh($ifmt, $lei->{$devfd}, $input, @args);
-	} elsif (-f $input) {
-		my $m = $lei->{opt}->{'lock'} // ($ifmt eq 'eml' ? ['none'] :
-				PublicInbox::MboxLock->defaults);
+	} elsif (-f $input && $ifmt eq 'eml') {
+		open my $fh, '<', $input or
+					return $lei->fail("open($input): $!");
+		$self->input_fh($ifmt, $fh, $input, @args);
+	} elsif (-f _) {
+		my $m = $lei->{opt}->{'lock'} //
+			PublicInbox::MboxLock->defaults;
 		my $mbl = PublicInbox::MboxLock->acq($input, 0, $m);
 		$self->input_fh($ifmt, $mbl->{fh}, $input, @args);
 	} elsif (-d _ && (-d "$input/cur" || -d "$input/new")) {
@@ -91,7 +98,6 @@ 		check_input_format($lei) or return;
 		push @$inputs, '/dev/stdin';
 	}
 	my $net = $lei->{net}; # NetWriter may be created by l2m
-	my $fmt = $lei->{opt}->{'in-format'};
 	my (@f, @d);
 	# e.g. Maildir:/home/user/Mail/ or imaps://example.com/INBOX
 	for my $input (@$inputs) {
@@ -120,6 +126,11 @@ 					$lei->fail("$ifmt not supported");
 			} else {
 				return $lei->fail("Unable to handle $input");
 			}
+		} elsif ($input =~ /\.(eml|patch)\z/i && -f $input) {
+			lc($in_fmt//'eml') eq 'eml' or return $lei->fail(<<"");
+$input is `eml', not --in-format=$in_fmt
+
+			require PublicInbox::Eml;
 		} else {
 			my $devfd = $lei->path_to_fd($input) // return;
 			if ($devfd >= 0 || -f $input || -p _) {
diff --git a/t/lei-import.t b/t/lei-import.t
index 33ce490d59f1e976dfa8db29351d06253fd578b8..99289748d7ba295c6146c305819fd101c4d21a19 100644
--- a/t/lei-import.t
+++ b/t/lei-import.t
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ # License: AGPL-3.0+ <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt>
 use strict; use v5.10.1; use PublicInbox::TestCommon;
 test_lei(sub {
 ok(!lei(qw(import -F bogus), 't/plack-qp.eml'), 'fails with bogus format');
-like($lei_err, qr/\bbogus unrecognized/, 'gave error message');
+like($lei_err, qr/\bis `eml', not --in-format/, 'gave error message');
 
 lei_ok(qw(q s:boolean), \'search miss before import');
 unlike($lei_out, qr/boolean/i, 'no results, yet');
diff --git a/t/lei-mark.t b/t/lei-mark.t
index 7855839e31a2c5e2730d8b3da3cfe765be3c3b02..98652c85134cdc6f61870c04c52b9b643433ae1c 100644
--- a/t/lei-mark.t
+++ b/t/lei-mark.t
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@ };
 
 test_lei(sub {
 	lei_ok(qw(ls-label)); is($lei_out, '', 'no labels, yet');
-	lei_ok(qw(import -F eml t/utf8.eml));
-	lei_ok(qw(mark -F eml t/utf8.eml +kw:flagged +L:urgent));
+	lei_ok(qw(import t/utf8.eml));
+	lei_ok(qw(mark t/utf8.eml +kw:flagged +L:urgent));
 	$check_kw->(['flagged'], L => ['urgent']);
 	lei_ok(qw(ls-label)); is($lei_out, "urgent\n", 'label found');
 	ok(!lei(qw(mark -F eml t/utf8.eml +kw:seeen)), 'bad kw rejected');