diff --git a/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py b/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py
index da161d2e9a8282bf9b0c80b2d88a7ddf7b038013..a2a5a081c90e51e6dc5f546f27d43bb8dd87f51e 100755
--- a/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py
+++ b/Trigger/TrigValidation/TrigValTools/bin/rootcomp.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ 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",