diff --git a/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/Main.java b/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/Main.java
index 0b9531ba0..3f6b19f01 100644
--- a/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/Main.java
+++ b/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/Main.java
@@ -229,8 +229,7 @@ public char[] getStorePassword() {
 			storepass=this.keystorePassword.toCharArray();	
 		} else {	
 			if (!nonInteractive) {
-				Console console = System.console(); 
-				storepass= console.readPassword("Enter Keystore Password: ");
+				storepass= readPassword("Enter Keystore Password: ");
 			} 
 			
 			if (storepass==null) {
@@ -252,8 +251,7 @@ public char[] getKeyPassword() {
 			keypass=this.keystorePassword.toCharArray();	
 		} else {
 			if (!nonInteractive) {
-				Console console = System.console(); 
-				keypass= console.readPassword("Private Key Encryption Password: ");
+				keypass= readPassword("Private Key Encryption Password: ");
 			} 
 			
 			if (keypass==null) {
@@ -451,5 +449,12 @@ public boolean isInteractive() {
 		return !nonInteractive;
 	}
 
+	public char[] readPassword(String prompt) {
+		Console c=System.console();
+		if (c==null) throw new CLIError("Unable to get user input because console is unavaiable.");
+		
+		return c.readPassword(prompt);
+	}
+
 
 }
diff --git a/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/key/KeyGenerate.java b/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/key/KeyGenerate.java
index 94379d910..b35b99be0 100644
--- a/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/key/KeyGenerate.java
+++ b/convex-cli/src/main/java/convex/cli/key/KeyGenerate.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package convex.cli.key;
 
+import java.io.Console;
 import java.security.GeneralSecurityException;
 import java.security.KeyStore;
 import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
+import convex.cli.CLIError;
 import convex.cli.Constants;
 import convex.core.crypto.AKeyPair;
 import convex.core.crypto.BIP39;
@@ -45,19 +47,20 @@ public class KeyGenerate extends AKeyCommand {
 	private boolean bip39;
 	
 	@Option(names="--passphrase",
-			description="BIP39 optional passphrase")
+			description="BIP39 passphrase. If not provided, will be requested from user (or assumed blank in non-interactive mode).")
 	private String passphrase;
 
-
 	private AKeyPair generateKeyPair() {	
 		try {
 			if (bip39) {
 				String mnemonic=BIP39.createSecureRandom(12);
 				cli().println(mnemonic);
-				if (cli().isInteractive()) {
-					passphrase=new String(System.console().readPassword("Enter BIP39 passphrase: "));
-				} else {
-					if (passphrase==null) passphrase="";
+				if (passphrase==null) {
+					if (cli().isInteractive()) {
+						passphrase=new String(cli().readPassword("Enter BIP39 passphrase: "));
+					} else {
+						passphrase="";
+					}
 				}
 				Blob bipseed;
 					bipseed = BIP39.getSeed(mnemonic, passphrase);