diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 4509470..5e1e6a2 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"sync"
 	"text/template"
 )
@@ -22,10 +23,11 @@ var m = sync.Mutex{}
 var addr = flag.String("addr", ":8000", "http service address")
 var static_files = flag.String("static", "./static", "location of static files")
 var db_file = flag.String("db", "db.json", "output database")
-var homeTempl = template.Must(template.ParseFiles("index.html"))
+var template_dir = flag.String("templates", "templates", "template dir")
+var templates *template.Template
 
 func homeHandler(c http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
-	homeTempl.Execute(c, req.Host)
+	templates.Execute(c, req.Host)
 }
 
 func passHandler(resp http.ResponseWriter, req *http.Request) {
@@ -69,6 +71,14 @@ func init_db() {
 func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
 	init_db()
+	pattern := filepath.Join(*template_dir, "*.html")
+    var err error
+	templates, err = template.ParseGlob(pattern)
+	if err != nil {
+		println(*template_dir)
+		println(pattern)
+		log.Fatal("problem parsing template dir:", *template_dir)
+	}
 	http.HandleFunc("/", homeHandler)
 	http.HandleFunc("/pass", passHandler)
 	http.HandleFunc("/api/1.0/creds/", credHandler)
diff --git a/index.html b/templates/index.html
similarity index 100%
rename from index.html
rename to templates/index.html