diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index 4493fd0e1..913754922 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -1989,8 +1989,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
     def download(self, url_list):
         """Download a given list of URLs."""
         outtmpl = self.params.get('outtmpl', DEFAULT_OUTTMPL)
-        if (len(url_list) > 1 and
-                outtmpl != '-' and
+        if (outtmpl != '-' and
                 '%' not in outtmpl and
                 self.params.get('max_downloads') != 1):
             raise SameFileError(outtmpl)