diff --git a/src/driver/mpas_subdriver.F b/src/driver/mpas_subdriver.F
index 2705777a25..79a051f347 100644
--- a/src/driver/mpas_subdriver.F
+++ b/src/driver/mpas_subdriver.F
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ module mpas_subdriver
    contains
 
 
-   subroutine mpas_init(corelist, domain_ptr, mpi_comm)
+   subroutine mpas_init(corelist, domain_ptr, mpi_comm, namelistFileParam, streamsFileParam)
 
       use mpas_stream_manager, only : MPAS_stream_mgr_init, MPAS_build_stream_filename, MPAS_stream_mgr_validate_streams
       use iso_c_binding, only : c_char, c_loc, c_ptr, c_int
@@ -53,7 +53,9 @@ subroutine mpas_init(corelist, domain_ptr, mpi_comm)
       type (core_type), intent(inout), pointer :: corelist
       type (domain_type), intent(inout), pointer :: domain_ptr
       integer, intent(in), optional :: mpi_comm
-
+      character(len=*), intent(in), optional :: namelistFileParam
+      character(len=*), intent(in), optional :: streamsFileParam
+      
       integer :: iArg, nArgs
       logical :: readNamelistArg, readStreamsArg
       character(len=StrKIND) :: argument, namelistFile, streamsFile
@@ -109,6 +111,15 @@ end subroutine xml_stream_get_attributes
       readNamelistArg = .false.
       readStreamsArg = .false.
 
+      if (present(namelistFileParam) .and. len_trim(namelistFileParam) > 0 ) then
+         readNamelistArg = .true.
+         namelistFile = trim(namelistFileParam)
+      endif
+      if (present(streamsFileParam)  .and. len_trim(streamsFileParam) > 0 ) then
+         readStreamsArg = .true.
+         streamsFile = trim(streamsFileParam)
+      endif
+
       nArgs = command_argument_count()
       iArg = 1
       do while (iArg < nArgs)