diff --git a/kittens/clipboard/main.py b/kittens/clipboard/main.py
index 9b0c49a44..536c3e936 100644
--- a/kittens/clipboard/main.py
+++ b/kittens/clipboard/main.py
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ When copying to clipboard both the original and alias are made available on the
 clipboard. When copying from clipboard if the original is not found, the alias
 is used, as a fallback. Can be specified multiple times to create multiple
 aliases. For example: :code:`--alias text/plain=text/x-rst` makes :code:`text/plain` an alias
-of :code:`text/rst`. Aliases are not used in filter mode.
+of :code:`text/rst`. Aliases are not used in filter mode. An alias for
+:code:`text/plain` is automatically created if :code:`text/plain` is not present in the input data, but some
+other :code:`text/*` MIME is present.
 
 
 --wait-for-completion
diff --git a/tools/cmd/clipboard/read.go b/tools/cmd/clipboard/read.go
index 881f79ced..a79e99351 100644
--- a/tools/cmd/clipboard/read.go
+++ b/tools/cmd/clipboard/read.go
@@ -171,6 +171,14 @@ func (self *Output) assign_mime_type(available_mimes []string, aliases map[strin
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	if strings.HasPrefix(self.mime_type, "text/") {
+		for _, mt := range available_mimes {
+			if mt == "text/plain" {
+				self.remote_mime_type = mt
+				return
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	return fmt.Errorf("The MIME type %s for %s not available on the clipboard", self.mime_type, self.arg)
 }