diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 659b694..6eebad5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+- fix: field formatting is now applied to field 1 even if it's the only
+       one present and with no delimiters around
+
 ## [1.1.0] - 2023-12-02
 
 - feat: no more need to pass --join when using --replace, it's implied
diff --git a/src/bin/tuc.rs b/src/bin/tuc.rs
index 0b87edf..6458227 100644
--- a/src/bin/tuc.rs
+++ b/src/bin/tuc.rs
@@ -109,6 +109,13 @@ fn parse_args() -> Result<Opt, pico_args::Error> {
         BoundsType::Fields
     };
 
+    if bounds_type == BoundsType::Fields
+        && (maybe_fields.is_none() || maybe_fields.as_ref().unwrap().0.is_empty())
+    {
+        eprintln!("tuc: invariant error. At least 1 field bound is expected with --fields");
+        std::process::exit(1);
+    }
+
     let delimiter = match bounds_type {
         BoundsType::Fields => pargs
             .opt_value_from_str(["-d", "--delimiter"])?
diff --git a/src/bounds.rs b/src/bounds.rs
index c5c3640..512d697 100644
--- a/src/bounds.rs
+++ b/src/bounds.rs
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ impl PartialEq for UserBounds {
 
 impl Default for UserBounds {
     fn default() -> Self {
-        UserBounds::new(Side::Some(1), Side::Some(1))
+        UserBounds::new(Side::Some(1), Side::Continue)
     }
 }
 
@@ -504,6 +504,11 @@ mod tests {
             ))],
         );
 
+        assert_eq!(
+            parse_bounds_list("1:").unwrap(),
+            vec![BoundOrFiller::Bound(UserBounds::default())],
+        );
+
         assert_eq!(
             parse_bounds_list("1,2").unwrap(),
             vec![
diff --git a/src/cut_str.rs b/src/cut_str.rs
index bb3b33d..38d4f09 100644
--- a/src/cut_str.rs
+++ b/src/cut_str.rs
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ pub fn cut_str<W: Write>(
 
     match bounds_as_ranges.len() {
         1 if opt.only_delimited => (),
-        1 => {
+        1 if opt.bounds.0.len() == 1 => {
             stdout.write_all(line.as_bytes())?;
             stdout.write_all(eol)?;
         }
diff --git a/src/options.rs b/src/options.rs
index f073601..ebceca5 100644
--- a/src/options.rs
+++ b/src/options.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use crate::bounds::{BoundsType, UserBoundsList};
+use crate::bounds::{BoundOrFiller, BoundsType, UserBounds, UserBoundsList};
 use anyhow::Result;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ impl Default for Opt {
         Opt {
             delimiter: String::from("-"),
             eol: EOL::Newline,
-            bounds: UserBoundsList(Vec::new()),
+            bounds: UserBoundsList(vec![BoundOrFiller::Bound(UserBounds::default())]),
             bounds_type: BoundsType::Fields,
             only_delimited: false,
             greedy_delimiter: false,
diff --git a/tests/cli.rs b/tests/cli.rs
index 6c340dc..6c42516 100644
--- a/tests/cli.rs
+++ b/tests/cli.rs
@@ -247,6 +247,15 @@ fn it_format_fields() {
         .stdout("Say hello to our world.\nJust {saying}\n");
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn it_format_field_1_even_with_no_matching_parameters() {
+    let mut cmd = Command::cargo_bin(env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME")).unwrap();
+
+    let assert = cmd.args(["-f", "Say {1}"]).write_stdin("hello").assert();
+
+    assert.success().stdout("Say hello\n");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn it_cuts_using_a_greedy_delimiter() {
     let mut cmd = Command::cargo_bin(env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME")).unwrap();