diff --git a/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py b/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py
index b9fcbba561019fa64a86342a2e20c94991ac7abb..56e0221bfa870f1df7fac36a47300560ef563be4 100755
--- a/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py
+++ b/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ def main():
                      help = "use axis comparison instead of bin-by-bin")
 
    parser.add_option("-l", "--sortLabels",
-                     action = "store_true",
+                     action = "store_true", default=False,
                      help = "sort/deflate alphanumeric axis before comparing")
 
    parser.add_option("-t", "--threshold",