diff --git a/swh/lister/cli.py b/swh/lister/cli.py
--- a/swh/lister/cli.py
+++ b/swh/lister/cli.py
@@ -193,13 +193,15 @@
 
     config = deepcopy(ctx.obj['config'])
 
+    args, kw = [], {}
     if options:
-        config.update(parse_options(options)[1])
+        args, kw = parse_options(options)
+        config.update(kw)
 
     config['priority'] = priority
     config['policy'] = 'oneshot'
 
-    get_lister(lister, **config).run()
+    get_lister(lister, **config).run(*args, **kw)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/swh/lister/debian/lister.py b/swh/lister/debian/lister.py
--- a/swh/lister/debian/lister.py
+++ b/swh/lister/debian/lister.py
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@
 
         return self.scheduler.create_tasks(tasks)
 
-    def run(self, distribution='Debian', date=None):
+    def run(self, distribution, date=None):
         """Run the lister for a given (distribution, area) tuple.
 
         Args: