diff --git a/beeref/__main__.py b/beeref/__main__.py
index eded3e4..ad1d328 100755
--- a/beeref/__main__.py
+++ b/beeref/__main__.py
@@ -22,10 +22,9 @@ import sys
 
 from PyQt6 import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets
 
-from beeref.config import commandline_args
+from beeref.config import CommandlineArgs
 from beeref.view import BeeGraphicsView
 
-
 logger = logging.getLogger('BeeRef')
 
 
@@ -69,6 +68,7 @@ def handle_sigint(signum, frame):
 
 
 def main():
+    commandline_args = CommandlineArgs(with_check=True)
     logging.basicConfig(level=getattr(logging, commandline_args.loglevel))
     app = QtWidgets.QApplication(sys.argv)
     bee = BeeRefMainWindow(app)  # NOQA:F841
diff --git a/beeref/config.py b/beeref/config.py
index 1d7cdda..5cb6a11 100644
--- a/beeref/config.py
+++ b/beeref/config.py
@@ -34,4 +34,31 @@ parser.add_argument(
     action='store_true',
     help='draw debug shapes for bounding rects and interactable areas')
 
-commandline_args = parser.parse_args()
+
+class CommandlineArgs():
+    """Wrapper around argument parsing.
+
+    Checking for unknown arugments is configurable so that it can be
+    deliberately enabled from the main() function while ignored for
+    other imports. This is a singleton so that arguments are only
+    parsed once.
+    """
+
+    _instance = None
+
+    def __new__(cls, *args, **kwargs):
+        if not cls._instance:
+            cls._instance = super().__new__(cls, *args, **kwargs)
+        return cls._instance
+
+    def __init__(self, with_check=False):
+        if with_check:
+            self._args = parser.parse_args()
+        else:
+            self._args = parser.parse_known_args()[0]
+
+    def __getattribute__(self, name):
+        if name == '_args':
+            return super().__getattribute__(name)
+        else:
+            return getattr(self._args, name)
diff --git a/beeref/items.py b/beeref/items.py
index 35c1602..0371079 100644
--- a/beeref/items.py
+++ b/beeref/items.py
@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt
 from PyQt6.QtWidgets import QGraphicsItem
 
 from beeref import commands
-from beeref.config import commandline_args
+from beeref.config import CommandlineArgs
 
 
+commandline_args = CommandlineArgs()
 logger = logging.getLogger('BeeRef')
 
 
diff --git a/beeref/view.py b/beeref/view.py
index ec937ea..b6baf59 100644
--- a/beeref/view.py
+++ b/beeref/view.py
@@ -19,12 +19,14 @@ from PyQt6 import QtCore, QtGui, QtWidgets
 from PyQt6.QtCore import Qt
 
 from beeref import commands
-from beeref.config import commandline_args
+from beeref.config import CommandlineArgs
 from beeref import fileio
 from beeref.gui import BeeProgressDialog, WelcomeOverlay
 from beeref.items import BeePixmapItem
 from beeref.scene import BeeGraphicsScene
 
+
+commandline_args = CommandlineArgs()
 logger = logging.getLogger('BeeRef')