diff --git a/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/local/coverage.rs b/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/local/coverage.rs
index 920d092521..ea9fadc4aa 100644
--- a/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/local/coverage.rs
+++ b/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/local/coverage.rs
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ pub fn build_shared_args(local_job: bool) -> Vec<Arg<'static, 'static>> {
             .multiple(true),
         Arg::with_name(TARGET_OPTIONS)
             .long(TARGET_OPTIONS)
+            .default_value("{input}")
             .takes_value(true)
             .value_delimiter(" ")
             .help("Use a quoted string with space separation to denote multiple arguments"),
diff --git a/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/tasks/coverage/generic.rs b/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/tasks/coverage/generic.rs
index 7124e427c0..16fce812ec 100644
--- a/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/tasks/coverage/generic.rs
+++ b/src/agent/onefuzz-agent/src/tasks/coverage/generic.rs
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ use async_trait::async_trait;
 use coverage::block::CommandBlockCov;
 use coverage::cache::ModuleCache;
 use coverage::code::{CmdFilter, CmdFilterDef};
-use onefuzz::expand::Expand;
+use onefuzz::expand::{Expand, PlaceHolder};
 use onefuzz::syncdir::SyncedDir;
 use onefuzz_telemetry::{warn, Event::coverage_data, EventData};
 use serde::de::DeserializeOwned;
@@ -82,6 +82,10 @@ impl CoverageTask {
         let heartbeat = self.config.common.init_heartbeat(None).await?;
         let mut context = TaskContext::new(cache, &self.config, coverage, filter, heartbeat);
 
+        if !context.uses_input() {
+            bail!("input is not specified on the command line or arguments for the target");
+        }
+
         context.heartbeat.alive();
 
         let mut seen_inputs = false;
@@ -245,6 +249,23 @@ impl<'a> TaskContext<'a> {
         Ok(coverage)
     }
 
+    fn uses_input(&self) -> bool {
+        let input = PlaceHolder::Input.get_string();
+
+        for entry in &self.config.target_options {
+            if entry.contains(&input) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        for (k, v) in &self.config.target_env {
+            if k == &input || v.contains(&input) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        false
+    }
+
     fn command_for_input(&self, input: &Path) -> Result<Command> {
         let expand = Expand::new()
             .input_path(input)
diff --git a/src/agent/onefuzz/src/expand.rs b/src/agent/onefuzz/src/expand.rs
index a83a250a05..6e02c9d5dc 100644
--- a/src/agent/onefuzz/src/expand.rs
+++ b/src/agent/onefuzz/src/expand.rs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ pub enum PlaceHolder {
 }
 
 impl PlaceHolder {
-    fn get_string(&self) -> String {
+    pub fn get_string(&self) -> String {
         match self {
             Self::Input => "{input}",
             Self::Crashes => "{crashes}",
@@ -469,4 +469,13 @@ mod tests {
 
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_expand_in_string() -> Result<()> {
+        let result = Expand::new()
+            .input_path("src/lib.rs")
+            .evaluate_value("a {input} b")?;
+        assert!(result.contains("lib.rs"));
+        Ok(())
+    }
 }