diff --git a/cmd/x-check-mailserver/flags.go b/cmd/x-check-mailserver/flags.go
index a70b32e..fe69ef6 100644
--- a/cmd/x-check-mailserver/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/x-check-mailserver/flags.go
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	fleet       = pflag.StringP("fleet", "f", params.FleetBeta, "cluster fleet")
+	port        = pflag.IntP("port", "p", 44300, "port to start from; one per mail server")
 	mailservers = pflag.StringArrayP("mailservers", "m", nil, "a list of mail servers")
 	duration    = pflag.DurationP("duration", "l", time.Hour*24, "length of time span from now")
-	channels    = pflag.StringArrayP("channel", "p", []string{"status"}, "name of the channel")
+	channels    = pflag.StringArrayP("channel", "c", []string{"status"}, "name of the channel")
 	verbosity   = pflag.StringP("verbosity", "v", "INFO", "verbosity level of status-go, options: crit, error, warn, info, debug")
 )
 
diff --git a/cmd/x-check-mailserver/main.go b/cmd/x-check-mailserver/main.go
index ca2e9a9..fec4430 100644
--- a/cmd/x-check-mailserver/main.go
+++ b/cmd/x-check-mailserver/main.go
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ func main() {
 	wg.Add(len(mailserversToCheck))
 
 	for i, enode := range mailserversToCheck {
-		config.ListenAddr = "127.0.0.1:" + strconv.Itoa(44300+i)
+		config.ListenAddr = "127.0.0.1:" + strconv.Itoa(*port+i)
 		config.DataDir, err = ioutil.TempDir("", "")
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Crit("failed to create temp dir", "err", err)