diff --git a/test_validation_passphrase.txt b/test_validation_passphrase.txt
index 822606a..580925e 100644
--- a/test_validation_passphrase.txt
+++ b/test_validation_passphrase.txt
@@ -2,9 +2,13 @@
 set -e
 attrib_hash=$(cat "./attribution-checksum.sha512")
 
-echo "enter passphrase to test"
-read passphrase
-echo
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    echo "enter passphrase to test"
+    read passphrase
+    echo
+else
+    passphrase="$1"
+fi
 
 tested_hash=$( ( echo -n "$passphrase"; cat "./contents.7z" ) | sha512sum | awk '{print $1}')