diff --git a/src/cmds/restic/cmd_backup.go b/src/cmds/restic/cmd_backup.go
index 29a4ec8e6..f15851331 100644
--- a/src/cmds/restic/cmd_backup.go
+++ b/src/cmds/restic/cmd_backup.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func init() {
 	f.StringVar(&backupOptions.ExcludeFile, "exclude-file", "", "read exclude patterns from a file")
 	f.BoolVarP(&backupOptions.ExcludeOtherFS, "one-file-system", "x", false, "Exclude other file systems")
 	f.BoolVar(&backupOptions.Stdin, "stdin", false, "read backup from stdin")
-	f.StringVar(&backupOptions.StdinFilename, "stdin-filename", "", "file name to use when reading from stdin")
+	f.StringVar(&backupOptions.StdinFilename, "stdin-filename", "stdin", "file name to use when reading from stdin")
 	f.StringSliceVar(&backupOptions.Tags, "tag", []string{}, "add a `tag` for the new snapshot (can be specified multiple times)")
 	f.StringVar(&backupOptions.FilesFrom, "files-from", "", "read the files to backup from file (can be combined with file args)")
 }
@@ -240,6 +240,10 @@ func readBackupFromStdin(opts BackupOptions, gopts GlobalOptions, args []string)
 		return errors.Fatalf("when reading from stdin, no additional files can be specified")
 	}
 
+	if opts.StdinFilename == "" {
+		return errors.Fatal("filename for backup from stdin must not be empty")
+	}
+
 	if gopts.password == "" && gopts.PasswordFile == "" {
 		return errors.Fatal("unable to read password from stdin when data is to be read from stdin, use --password-file or $RESTIC_PASSWORD")
 	}
diff --git a/src/restic/archiver/archive_reader.go b/src/restic/archiver/archive_reader.go
index 22158fbe3..713799a04 100644
--- a/src/restic/archiver/archive_reader.go
+++ b/src/restic/archiver/archive_reader.go
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ import (
 // ArchiveReader reads from the reader and archives the data. Returned is the
 // resulting snapshot and its ID.
 func ArchiveReader(repo restic.Repository, p *restic.Progress, rd io.Reader, name string, tags []string) (*restic.Snapshot, restic.ID, error) {
+	if name == "" {
+		return nil, restic.ID{}, errors.New("no filename given")
+	}
+
 	debug.Log("start archiving %s", name)
 	sn, err := restic.NewSnapshot([]string{name}, tags)
 	if err != nil {