diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 02cd94cc2..171180e39 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ GOTOOLS =	github.com/mitchellh/gox \
 			github.com/rigelrozanski/shelldown/cmd/shelldown
 TUTORIALS=$(shell find docs/guide -name "*md" -type f)
 
-EXAMPLES := counter eyes basecoin
+EXAMPLES := counter eyes basecoin 
 INSTALL_EXAMPLES := $(addprefix install_,${EXAMPLES})
 TEST_EXAMPLES := $(addprefix testex_,${EXAMPLES})
 
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ test_unit:
 	@go test `glide novendor`
 
 test_cli: $(TEST_EXAMPLES)
+	./tests/cli/init-server.sh
 	# sudo apt-get install jq
 	# wget "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kward/shunit2/master/source/2.1/src/shunit2"
 
diff --git a/server/commands/init.go b/server/commands/init.go
index 4e3091eb4..96267dcc3 100644
--- a/server/commands/init.go
+++ b/server/commands/init.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ var (
 
 func init() {
 	InitCmd.Flags().String(FlagChainID, "test_chain_id", "Chain ID")
-	InitCmd.Flags().StringSlice(FlagOption, []string{}, "Genesis option in the format <app>/<option>/<value>")
+	InitCmd.Flags().StringSliceP(FlagOption, "p", []string{}, "Genesis option in the format <app>/<option>/<value>")
 }
 
 // returns 1 iff it set a file, otherwise 0 (so we can add them)
@@ -67,12 +67,13 @@ func initCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return errors.New("Address must be 20-bytes in hex")
 	}
 
-	var options []string
 	var optionsStr string
-	sep := ",\n      "
 	optionsRaw := viper.GetStringSlice(FlagOption)
 	if len(optionsRaw) > 0 {
-		optionsStr = sep
+
+		var options []string
+		sep := ",\n      "
+
 		for i := 0; i < len(optionsRaw); i++ {
 			s := strings.SplitN(optionsRaw[i], "/", 3)
 			if len(s) != 3 {
@@ -87,8 +88,8 @@ func initCmd(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			option := `"` + s[0] + `/` + s[1] + `", ` + s[2]
 			options = append(options, option)
 		}
+		optionsStr = sep + strings.Join(options[:], sep)
 	}
-	optionsStr += strings.Join(options[:], sep)
 
 	genesis := GetGenesisJSON(viper.GetString(FlagChainID), userAddr, optionsStr)
 	return CreateGenesisValidatorFiles(cfg, genesis, cmd.Root().Name())
diff --git a/server/commands/root.go b/server/commands/root.go
index 7974d3532..87a453aaa 100644
--- a/server/commands/root.go
+++ b/server/commands/root.go
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ func preRunSetup(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// SetUpRoot - initialize the root command
 func SetUpRoot(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	cmd.PersistentPreRunE = preRunSetup
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().String(FlagLogLevel, defaultLogLevel, "Log level")
diff --git a/tests/cli/init-server.sh b/tests/cli/init-server.sh
index 4572e0ac8..03404e5c3 100755
--- a/tests/cli/init-server.sh
+++ b/tests/cli/init-server.sh
@@ -8,24 +8,36 @@ test01initOption() {
     rm -rf "$BASE"
     mkdir -p "$BASE"
 
-    SERVER="${BASE}/server"
-    GENESIS_FILE=${SERVER}/genesis.json
+    SERVE_DIR="${BASE}/server"
+    GENESIS_FILE=${SERVE_DIR}/genesis.json
     HEX="deadbeef1234deadbeef1234deadbeef1234aaaa"
 
-    ${SERVER_EXE} init ${HEX} --home="$SERVER" --option=app1/key1/val1 --option=app2/key2/val2 >/dev/null
+    ${SERVER_EXE} init ${HEX} --home="$SERVE_DIR" -p=app1/key1/val1 -p='"app2/key2/{""name"": ""joe"", ""age"": ""100""}"' >/dev/null
     if ! assertTrue "line=${LINENO}" $?; then return 1; fi
 
     OPTION1KEY=$(cat ${GENESIS_FILE} | jq '.app_options.plugin_options[2]')
     OPTION1VAL=$(cat ${GENESIS_FILE} | jq '.app_options.plugin_options[3]')
     OPTION2KEY=$(cat ${GENESIS_FILE} | jq '.app_options.plugin_options[4]')
     OPTION2VAL=$(cat ${GENESIS_FILE} | jq '.app_options.plugin_options[5]')
+    OPTION2VALEXPECTED=$(echo '{"name": "joe", "age": "100"}' | jq '.')
 
     assertEquals "line=${LINENO}" '"app1/key1"' $OPTION1KEY
     assertEquals "line=${LINENO}" '"val1"' $OPTION1VAL
     assertEquals "line=${LINENO}" '"app2/key2"' $OPTION2KEY
-    assertEquals "line=${LINENO}" '"val2"' $OPTION2VAL
+    assertEquals "line=${LINENO}" "$OPTION2VALEXPECTED" "$OPTION2VAL"
+}
+
+test02runServer() {
+    # Attempt to begin the server with the custom genesis
+    SERVER_LOG=$BASE/${SERVER_EXE}.log
+    startServer $SERVE_DIR $SERVER_LOG
+}
+
+oneTimeTearDown() {
+    quickTearDown
 }
 
 # load and run these tests with shunit2!
-DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )" #get this files directory
-. $DIR/shunit2
+CLI_DIR=$GOPATH/src/github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/tests/cli
+. $CLI_DIR/common.sh
+. $CLI_DIR/shunit2