diff --git a/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set.go b/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set.go
index ac042ca1b..1a05d93cc 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set.go
@@ -45,12 +45,11 @@ func NewCmdSet(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*SetOptions) error) *cobra.Command
 		Short: "Create or update secrets",
 		Long:  "Locally encrypt a new or updated secret at either the repository or organization level and send it to GitHub for storage.",
 		Example: heredoc.Doc(`
-			$ cat SECRET.txt | gh secret set NEW_SECRET
-			$ gh secret set NEW_SECRET -b"some literal value"
-			$ gh secret set NEW_SECRET -b"@file.json"
-			$ gh secret set ORG_SECRET --org
-			$ gh secret set ORG_SECRET --org=anotherOrg --visibility=selected -r="repo1,repo2,repo3"
-			$ gh secret set ORG_SECRET --org=anotherOrg --visibility="all"
+			$ gh secret set FROM_FLAG  -b"some literal value"
+			$ gh secret set FROM_ENV  -b"${ENV_VALUE}"
+			$ gh secret set FROM_FILE < file.json
+			$ gh secret set ORG_SECRET -bval --org=anOrg --visibility=all
+			$ gh secret set ORG_SECRET -bval --org=anOrg --repos="repo1,repo2,repo3"
 `),
 		Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			if len(args) != 1 {
@@ -108,7 +107,7 @@ func NewCmdSet(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*SetOptions) error) *cobra.Command
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.OrgName, "org", "o", "", "List secrets for an organization")
 	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Visibility, "visibility", "v", "private", "Set visibility for an organization secret: `all`, `private`, or `selected`")
 	cmd.Flags().StringSliceVarP(&opts.RepositoryNames, "repos", "r", []string{}, "List of repository names for `selected` visibility")
-	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Body, "body", "b", "-", "Provide either a literal string or a file path; prepend file paths with an @. Reads from STDIN if not provided.")
+	cmd.Flags().StringVarP(&opts.Body, "body", "b", "", "A value for the secret. Reads from STDIN if not specified.")
 
 	return cmd
 }
@@ -196,23 +195,14 @@ func validSecretName(name string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func getBody(opts *SetOptions) (body []byte, err error) {
-	if opts.Body == "-" {
-		body, err = ioutil.ReadAll(opts.IO.In)
+func getBody(opts *SetOptions) ([]byte, error) {
+	if opts.Body == "" {
+		body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(opts.IO.In)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read from STDIN: %w", err)
 		}
 
-		return
-	}
-
-	if strings.HasPrefix(opts.Body, "@") {
-		body, err = opts.IO.ReadUserFile(opts.Body[1:])
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to read file %s: %w", opts.Body[1:], err)
-		}
-
-		return
+		return body, nil
 	}
 
 	return []byte(opts.Body), nil
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set_test.go b/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set_test.go
index ce193e365..4536205a1 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/secret/set/set_test.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
-	"os"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/cli/cli/internal/ghrepo"
@@ -64,34 +63,34 @@ func TestNewCmdSet(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "repos without vis",
-			cli:  "cool_secret --org coolOrg -rcoolRepo",
+			cli:  "cool_secret -bs --org coolOrg -rcoolRepo",
 			wants: SetOptions{
 				SecretName:      "cool_secret",
 				Visibility:      shared.Selected,
 				RepositoryNames: []string{"coolRepo"},
-				Body:            "-",
+				Body:            "s",
 				OrgName:         "coolOrg",
 			},
 		},
 		{
 			name: "org with selected repo",
-			cli:  "-ocoolOrg -vselected -rcoolRepo cool_secret",
+			cli:  "-ocoolOrg -bs -vselected -rcoolRepo cool_secret",
 			wants: SetOptions{
 				SecretName:      "cool_secret",
 				Visibility:      shared.Selected,
 				RepositoryNames: []string{"coolRepo"},
-				Body:            "-",
+				Body:            "s",
 				OrgName:         "coolOrg",
 			},
 		},
 		{
 			name: "org with selected repos",
-			cli:  `--org=coolOrg -vselected -r="coolRepo,radRepo,goodRepo" cool_secret`,
+			cli:  `--org=coolOrg -bs -vselected -r="coolRepo,radRepo,goodRepo" cool_secret`,
 			wants: SetOptions{
 				SecretName:      "cool_secret",
 				Visibility:      shared.Selected,
 				RepositoryNames: []string{"coolRepo", "goodRepo", "radRepo"},
-				Body:            "-",
+				Body:            "s",
 				OrgName:         "coolOrg",
 			},
 		},
@@ -107,11 +106,11 @@ func TestNewCmdSet(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "vis all",
-			cli:  `cool_secret --org coolOrg -b"@cool.json" -vall`,
+			cli:  `cool_secret --org coolOrg -b"cool" -vall`,
 			wants: SetOptions{
 				SecretName: "cool_secret",
 				Visibility: shared.All,
-				Body:       "@cool.json",
+				Body:       "cool",
 				OrgName:    "coolOrg",
 			},
 		},
@@ -286,11 +285,10 @@ func Test_setRun_org(t *testing.T) {
 
 func Test_getBody(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		name     string
-		bodyArg  string
-		want     string
-		stdin    string
-		fromFile bool
+		name    string
+		bodyArg string
+		want    string
+		stdin   string
 	}{
 		{
 			name:    "literal value",
@@ -298,15 +296,9 @@ func Test_getBody(t *testing.T) {
 			want:    "a secret",
 		},
 		{
-			name:    "from stdin",
-			bodyArg: "-",
-			want:    "a secret",
-			stdin:   "a secret",
-		},
-		{
-			name:     "from file",
-			fromFile: true,
-			want:     "a secret from a file",
+			name:  "from stdin",
+			want:  "a secret",
+			stdin: "a secret",
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -319,15 +311,6 @@ func Test_getBody(t *testing.T) {
 			_, err := stdin.WriteString(tt.stdin)
 			assert.NoError(t, err)
 
-			if tt.fromFile {
-				dir := os.TempDir()
-				tmpfile, err := ioutil.TempFile(dir, "testfile*")
-				assert.NoError(t, err)
-				_, err = tmpfile.WriteString(tt.want)
-				assert.NoError(t, err)
-				tt.bodyArg = fmt.Sprintf("@%s", tmpfile.Name())
-			}
-
 			body, err := getBody(&SetOptions{
 				Body: tt.bodyArg,
 				IO:   io,
@@ -335,11 +318,6 @@ func Test_getBody(t *testing.T) {
 			assert.NoError(t, err)
 
 			assert.Equal(t, string(body), tt.want)
-
 		})
-
 	}
-
 }
-
-// TODO test updating org secret's repo lists