diff --git a/frontend_server/lib/server.dart b/frontend_server/lib/server.dart
index b24a31ddce86e1037b74b3c80b2839d1437e8780..267d3c369f8b87368042401d07b0a711739371a5 100644
--- a/frontend_server/lib/server.dart
+++ b/frontend_server/lib/server.dart
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ ArgParser _argParser = new ArgParser(allowTrailingOptions: true)
       defaultsTo: true)
   ..addOption('packages',
       help: '.packages file to use for compilation',
-      defaultsTo: '.packages');
+      defaultsTo: null);
 
 String _usage = '''
 Usage: server [options] [input.dart]