diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 09ddaf90..6343e6e1 100755
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ Creating a client
   # api_hash from https://my.telegram.org, under API Development.
   api_id = 12345
   api_hash = '0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef'
-  phone = '+34600000000'
 
   client = TelegramClient('session_name', api_id, api_hash)
   client.start()
diff --git a/telethon/telegram_client.py b/telethon/telegram_client.py
index 98b22940..674e6045 100644
--- a/telethon/telegram_client.py
+++ b/telethon/telegram_client.py
@@ -232,14 +232,10 @@ class TelegramClient(TelegramBareClient):
             )
 
         if not phone and not bot_token:
-            value = input('Please enter your phone/bot token: ')
-            phone = utils.parse_phone(phone)
-            if not phone:
-                bot_token = value
-                print("Note: input doesn't look like a phone, "
-                      "using as bot token")
+            while not phone:
+                phone = utils.parse_phone(input('Please enter your phone: '))
 
-        if phone and bot_token:
+        elif phone and bot_token:
             raise ValueError(
                 'You must provide either a phone number or a bot token, '
                 'not both (or neither).'