diff --git a/spacy/cli/apply.py b/spacy/cli/apply.py
index 31fff3616..8988d5add 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/apply.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/apply.py
@@ -47,13 +47,15 @@ def _stream_jsonl(path: Path, field) -> Iterable[str]:
     not found it raises error.
     """
     for entry in srsly.read_jsonl(path):
+        print(entry)
+        print(field)
         if field not in entry:
             raise msg.fail(
                 f"{path} does not contain the required '{field}' field.",
                 exits=1
             )
         else:
-            yield entry["text"]
+            yield entry[field]
 
 
 def _stream_texts(paths: Iterable[Path]) -> Iterable[str]:
@@ -73,7 +75,7 @@ def apply_cli(
     data_path: Path = Arg(..., help=path_help, exists=True),
     output_file: Path = Arg(..., help=out_help, dir_okay=False),
     code_path: Optional[Path] = Opt(None, "--code", "-c", help=code_help),
-    field: str = Opt("text", "--field", "-f", help="Field to grab from .jsonl"),
+    json_field: str = Opt("text", "--field", "-f", help="Field to grab from .jsonl"),
     use_gpu: int = Opt(-1, "--gpu-id", "-g", help="GPU ID or -1 for CPU."),
     batch_size: int = Opt(1, "--batch-size", "-b", help="Batch size."),
     n_process: int = Opt(1, "--n-process", "-n", help="number of processors to use.")
@@ -82,7 +84,7 @@ def apply_cli(
     Apply a trained pipeline to documents to get predictions.
     Expects a loadable spaCy pipeline and path to the data, which
     can be a directory or a file.
-    The data files can be provided multiple formats: 
+    The data files can be provided multiple formats:
         1. .spacy files
         2. .jsonl files with a specified "field" to read the text from.
         3. Files with any other extension are assumed to be containing
@@ -91,18 +93,19 @@ def apply_cli(
     """
     import_code(code_path)
     setup_gpu(use_gpu)
-    apply(data_path, output, model, batch_size, n_process)
+    apply(data_path, output_file, model, json_field, batch_size, n_process)
 
 
 def apply(
     data_path: Path,
-    output: Path,
+    output_file: Path,
     model: str,
+    json_field: str,
     batch_size: int,
     n_process: int,
 ):
     data_path = ensure_path(data_path)
-    output_path = ensure_path(output)
+    output_file = ensure_path(output_file)
     if not data_path.exists():
         msg.fail("Couldn't find data path.", data_path, exits=1)
     nlp = load_model(model)
@@ -116,7 +119,7 @@ def apply(
         if path.suffix == ".spacy":
             streams.append(_stream_docbin(path, vocab))
         elif path.suffix == ".jsonl":
-            streams.append(_stream_jsonl(path, field))
+            streams.append(_stream_jsonl(path, json_field))
         else:
             text_files.append(path)
     if len(text_files) > 0:
@@ -124,6 +127,6 @@ def apply(
     datagen = cast(DocOrStrStream, chain(*streams))
     for doc in tqdm.tqdm(nlp.pipe(datagen, batch_size=batch_size, n_process=n_process)):
         docbin.add(doc)
-    if not output_file.endswith(".spacy"):
+    if output_file.suffix == "":
         output_file += ".spacy"
     docbin.to_disk(output_file)
diff --git a/spacy/tests/test_cli.py b/spacy/tests/test_cli.py
index e1b3fcdb2..964f03a79 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -864,7 +864,7 @@ def test_span_length_freq_dist_output_must_be_correct():
 def test_applycli_empty_dir():
     with make_tempdir() as data_path:
         output = data_path / "test.spacy"
-        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "text", 1, 1)
 
 
 def test_applycli_docbin():
@@ -875,35 +875,29 @@ def test_applycli_docbin():
         # test empty DocBin case
         docbin = DocBin()
         docbin.to_disk(data_path / "testin.spacy")
-        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "text", 1, 1)
         docbin.add(doc)
         docbin.to_disk(data_path / "testin.spacy")
-        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "text", 1, 1)
 
 
 def test_applycli_jsonl():
     with make_tempdir() as data_path:
         output = data_path / "testout.spacy"
-        data = [{"text": "Testing apply cli.", "key": 234}]
+        data = [{"field": "Testing apply cli.", "key": 234}]
         srsly.write_jsonl(data_path / "test.jsonl", data)
-        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
-        data = [{"key": 234}]
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "field", 1, 1)
+        data = [{"field": "234"}]
         srsly.write_jsonl(data_path / "test2.jsonl", data)
-        # test no "text" field case
-        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="test2.jsonl"):
-            apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "field", 1, 1)
 
 
 def test_applycli_txt():
     with make_tempdir() as data_path:
         output = data_path / "testout.spacy"
-        data = [{"text": "Testing apply cli.", "key": 234}]
-        srsly.write_jsonl(data_path / "test.jsonl", data)
-        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
-        data = [{"key": 234}]
-        srsly.write_jsonl(data_path / "test2.jsonl", data)
-        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="test2.jsonl"):
-            apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
+        with open(data_path / "test.foo", "w") as ftest:
+            ftest.write("Testing apply cli.")
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "text", 1, 1)
 
 
 def test_applycli_mixed():
@@ -919,7 +913,7 @@ def test_applycli_mixed():
         docbin.to_disk(data_path / "testin.spacy")
         with open(data_path / "test.txt", "w") as ftest:
             ftest.write(text)
-        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", 1, 1)
+        apply(data_path, output, "blank:en", "text", 1, 1)
         # Check whether it worked
         result = list(DocBin().from_disk(output).get_docs(nlp.vocab))
         assert len(result) == 3