diff --git a/src/cmd/cmd.c b/src/cmd/cmd.c
index 1c5786ee8b..6887454270 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cmd.c
+++ b/src/cmd/cmd.c
@@ -1018,7 +1018,7 @@ cmd_Parse(int argc, char **argv, struct cmd_syndesc **outsyntax)
 	/* Display full help syntax if we don't have subcommands */
 	if (noOpcodes)
 	    PrintFlagHelp(ts);
-	code = CMD_USAGE;
+	code = CMD_HELP;
 	goto out;
     }
 
@@ -1061,8 +1061,12 @@ cmd_Dispatch(int argc, char **argv)
     int code;
 
     code = cmd_Parse(argc, argv, &ts);
-    if (code)
+    if (code) {
+	if (code == CMD_HELP) {
+	    code = 0; /* displaying help is not an error */
+	}
 	return code;
+    }
 
     /*
      * Before calling the beforeProc and afterProc and all the implications
diff --git a/src/cmd/cmd_errors.et b/src/cmd/cmd_errors.et
index dbc75e4037..74b1894482 100644
--- a/src/cmd/cmd_errors.et
+++ b/src/cmd/cmd_errors.et
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ error_table CMD
   ec CMD_TOOBIG, "Token too large"
   ec CMD_MISSING, "Option not specified on command line"
   ec CMD_BADFORMAT, "Improper format of configuration file"
+  ec CMD_HELP, "Help requested"
 end
diff --git a/tests/cmd/command-t.c b/tests/cmd/command-t.c
index b4718f37e1..0b0c83f4f6 100644
--- a/tests/cmd/command-t.c
+++ b/tests/cmd/command-t.c
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     code = cmd_ParseLine("-help", tv, &tc, 100);
     is_int(0, code, "cmd_ParseLine succeeds");
     code = cmd_Parse(tc, tv, &retopts);
-    is_int(CMD_USAGE, code, "cmd_Parse returns usage error with help output");
+    is_int(CMD_HELP, code, "cmd_Parse returns help indicator with help output");
     ok(retopts == NULL, " ... and options is empty");
 
     /* Check splitting with '=' */