diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 11ee132..192d419 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -16,13 +16,19 @@ import (
 const binroot = "/town/commands"
 
 var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "town",
-	Short: "Run commands unique to tilde.town",
+	Use:                "town",
+	Short:              "Run commands unique to tilde.town",
+	DisableFlagParsing: true,
+}
+
+func init() {
+	rootCmd.Flags().BoolP("help", "h", false, "")
 }
 
 var adminCmd = &cobra.Command{
-	Use:   "admin",
-	Short: "Run administrative commands",
+	Use:                "admin",
+	Short:              "Run administrative commands",
+	DisableFlagParsing: true,
 }
 
 func isAdmin() (bool, error) {
@@ -134,6 +140,7 @@ func execWrapper(executablePath string) func(*cobra.Command, []string) error {
 }
 
 func cli() int {
+	rootCommand.PersistentFlags().BoolFlagP("help", "h", false)
 	err := parseCommands(rootCmd, "core")
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "failed to parse core commands: %s", err)