diff --git a/FileParser.cxx b/FileParser.cxx
index 9873d6f..6897e67 100644
--- a/FileParser.cxx
+++ b/FileParser.cxx
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ void FileParser::OpenFile(TString fname, TString cyclename)
     fname.Prepend(Prefix);
   }  
 
+  // check if input filename has .root extension
+  // necessary for extracting process name and creating ratio plots
+  if (!fname.EndsWith(".root")){
+    cerr << "fInputFiles entry must end with .root, instead got " << fname << endl;;
+    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+  }
+
   // check if name consists of a wildcard, if so use hadd to combine histograms
   if (fname.Contains("*")){
     TString target(fname);
@@ -154,6 +161,12 @@ void FileParser::OpenThetaFile(TString cyclename)
 
   // fname = target;
 
+  // check if input filename has .root extension
+  // necessary for extracting process name and creating ratio plots
+  if (!fname.EndsWith(".root")){
+    cerr << "fCycleName must end with .root, instead got " << fname << endl;;
+    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+  }
 
   if (debug) cout << "Opening file with name " << fname << "..." << endl;
   m_file = new TFile(fname, "READ");
diff --git a/SPlotter.cxx b/SPlotter.cxx
index 8344f2b..f07eb49 100644
--- a/SPlotter.cxx
+++ b/SPlotter.cxx
@@ -1034,7 +1034,7 @@ vector<SHist*> SPlotter::CalcRatios(vector<SHist*> hists)
     Double_t rel_err = err / val;
     rdhist->SetBinError(ibin, rel_err * rdhist->GetBinContent(ibin) );
   }
-  rdhist->GetYaxis()->SetTitle(rd->GetProcessName() + " / BG");
+  rdhist->GetYaxis()->SetTitle(rd->GetLegName() + " / BG");
   if (bSingleEPS){
     SingleEPSRatioCosmetics(rdhist);
   } else {