diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 60366307..0873de11 100755
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
      
 * Various improvements to documentation (#501, #504, #508, #512).
 
+* Fixed bug where `generate()` could not be used without first `specify()`ing variables, even in cases where that specification would not affect resampling/simulation (#448). 
+
 # infer v1.0.5
 
 * Implemented support for permutation hypothesis tests for paired data via the 
diff --git a/R/generate.R b/R/generate.R
index e4cdc96f..7860fe84 100755
--- a/R/generate.R
+++ b/R/generate.R
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ check_permutation_attributes <- function(x, call = caller_env()) {
 }
 
 check_cols <- function(x, variables, type, missing, arg_name = "variables", call = caller_env()) {
-  if (!rlang::is_symbolic(rlang::get_expr(variables))) {
+  if (!rlang::is_symbolic(rlang::get_expr(variables)) && type == "permute") {
      cli_abort(
        "The {.arg {arg_name}} argument should be one or more unquoted variable names \\
         (not strings in quotation marks).",