diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 23885a53..cfe0005d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ build:
 	@$(GO) build -ldflags "$(COMMON_LDFLAGS)" -buildvcs=false -o target/bin/tlgen ./cmd/tlgen
 
 tlo-bootstrap: build
-	@./target/bin/tlgen \
+	@./target/bin/tlgen -v --language=go \
 		--copyrightPath=./COPYRIGHT \
 		--pkgPath=github.com/vkcom/tl/internal/tlast/gentlo/tl \
 		--basicPkgPath=github.com/vkcom/tl/pkg/basictl \
diff --git a/cmd/tlgen/main2.go b/cmd/tlgen/main2.go
index 78107370..0cb5255d 100644
--- a/cmd/tlgen/main2.go
+++ b/cmd/tlgen/main2.go
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ const tlExt = ".tl"
 
 func parseFlags(opt *tlcodegen.Gen2Options) {
 	// General
-	flag.StringVar(&opt.Language, "language", "go",
-		`generation target language`)
+	flag.StringVar(&opt.Language, "language", "",
+		`generation target language (go, cpp). Empty for linter.`)
 	flag.StringVar(&opt.Outdir, "outdir", "",
 		`where to write generated files`)
 	flag.StringVar(&opt.CopyrightFilePath, "copyrightPath", "",