diff --git a/src/bitcoin-tx.cpp b/src/bitcoin-tx.cpp
index ffe87298f63..6cd2768d700 100644
--- a/src/bitcoin-tx.cpp
+++ b/src/bitcoin-tx.cpp
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <boost/assign/list_of.hpp>
+#include <boost/algorithm/string.hpp>
 
 using namespace std;
 using namespace boost::assign;
@@ -501,13 +502,34 @@ static void OutputTx(const CTransaction& tx)
         OutputTxHex(tx);
 }
 
+static string readStdin()
+{
+    char buf[4096];
+    string ret;
+
+    while (!feof(stdin)) {
+        size_t bread = fread(buf, 1, sizeof(buf), stdin);
+        ret.append(buf, bread);
+        if (bread < sizeof(buf))
+            break;
+    }
+
+    if (ferror(stdin))
+        throw runtime_error("error reading stdin");
+
+    boost::algorithm::trim_right(ret);
+
+    return ret;
+}
+
 static int CommandLineRawTx(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
     string strPrint;
     int nRet = 0;
     try {
-        // Skip switches
-        while (argc > 1 && IsSwitchChar(argv[1][0])) {
+        // Skip switches; Permit common stdin convention "-"
+        while (argc > 1 && IsSwitchChar(argv[1][0]) &&
+               (argv[1][1] != 0)) {
             argc--;
             argv++;
         }
@@ -522,6 +544,8 @@ static int CommandLineRawTx(int argc, char* argv[])
 
             // param: hex-encoded bitcoin transaction
             string strHexTx(argv[1]);
+            if (strHexTx == "-")                 // "-" implies standard input
+                strHexTx = readStdin();
 
             if (!DecodeHexTx(txDecodeTmp, strHexTx))
                 throw runtime_error("invalid transaction encoding");
diff --git a/src/test/bctest.py b/src/test/bctest.py
index 3b17acb75e0..b1264790839 100644
--- a/src/test/bctest.py
+++ b/src/test/bctest.py
@@ -9,12 +9,20 @@ import sys
 
 def bctest(testDir, testObj):
 	execargs = testObj['exec']
+
+	stdinCfg = None
+	inputData = None
+	if "input" in testObj:
+		filename = testDir + "/" + testObj['input']
+		inputData = open(filename).read()
+		stdinCfg = subprocess.PIPE
+
 	outputFn = testObj['output_cmp']
 	outputData = open(testDir + "/" + outputFn).read()
 
-	proc = subprocess.Popen(execargs, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+	proc = subprocess.Popen(execargs, stdin=stdinCfg, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
 	try:
-		outs = proc.communicate()
+		outs = proc.communicate(input=inputData)
 	except OSError:
 		print("OSError, Failed to execute " + execargs[0])
 		sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/src/test/data/bitcoin-util-test.json b/src/test/data/bitcoin-util-test.json
index af29fd75a54..16bcb448981 100644
--- a/src/test/data/bitcoin-util-test.json
+++ b/src/test/data/bitcoin-util-test.json
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 [
   { "exec": ["./bitcoin-tx", "-create"],
     "output_cmp": "blanktx.hex"
+  },
+  { "exec": ["./bitcoin-tx", "-"],
+    "input": "blanktx.hex",
+    "output_cmp": "blanktx.hex"
   }
 ]