diff --git a/cmd/hyperkube/hyperkube.go b/cmd/hyperkube/hyperkube.go
index fefbde22f61..1d5511787c6 100644
--- a/cmd/hyperkube/hyperkube.go
+++ b/cmd/hyperkube/hyperkube.go
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ func (hk *HyperKube) Flags() *pflag.FlagSet {
 	if hk.baseFlags == nil {
 		hk.baseFlags = pflag.NewFlagSet(hk.Name, pflag.ContinueOnError)
 		hk.baseFlags.SetOutput(ioutil.Discard)
+		hk.baseFlags.SetWordSeparators([]string{"-", "_"})
 		hk.baseFlags.BoolVarP(&hk.helpFlagVal, "help", "h", false, "help for "+hk.Name)
 
 		// These will add all of the "global" flags (defined with both the
diff --git a/cmd/hyperkube/server.go b/cmd/hyperkube/server.go
index 4c29f1df321..4bf5422f3ad 100644
--- a/cmd/hyperkube/server.go
+++ b/cmd/hyperkube/server.go
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ func (s *Server) Flags() *pflag.FlagSet {
 	if s.flags == nil {
 		s.flags = pflag.NewFlagSet(s.Name(), pflag.ContinueOnError)
 		s.flags.SetOutput(ioutil.Discard)
+		s.flags.SetWordSeparators([]string{"-", "_"})
 	}
 	return s.flags
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kube-version-change/version.go b/cmd/kube-version-change/version.go
index db84e9d455a..0a01b9eb60c 100644
--- a/cmd/kube-version-change/version.go
+++ b/cmd/kube-version-change/version.go
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ func isYAML(data []byte) bool {
 
 func main() {
 	runtime.GOMAXPROCS(runtime.NumCPU())
+	flag.Commandline.SetWordSeparators([]string{"-", "_"})
 	flag.Parse()
 
 	if *rewrite != "" {
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util/factory.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util/factory.go
index baeafc16877..ae383c52b52 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util/factory.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util/factory.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 package util
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ func NewFactory(optionalClientConfig clientcmd.ClientConfig) *Factory {
 	mapper := kubectl.ShortcutExpander{latest.RESTMapper}
 
 	flags := pflag.NewFlagSet("", pflag.ContinueOnError)
+	flags.SetWordSeparators([]string{"-", "_"})
 
 	clientConfig := optionalClientConfig
 	if optionalClientConfig == nil {
@@ -225,7 +227,7 @@ func NewFactory(optionalClientConfig clientcmd.ClientConfig) *Factory {
 // BindFlags adds any flags that are common to all kubectl sub commands.
 func (f *Factory) BindFlags(flags *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	// any flags defined by external projects (not part of pflags)
-	util.AddAllFlagsToPFlagSet(flags)
+	util.AddFlagSetToPFlagSet(flag.CommandLine, flags)
 
 	// This is necessary as github.com/spf13/cobra doesn't support "global"
 	// pflags currently.  See https://github.com/spf13/cobra/issues/44.
diff --git a/pkg/util/flags.go b/pkg/util/flags.go
index 80687267f92..87c3f38e1ea 100644
--- a/pkg/util/flags.go
+++ b/pkg/util/flags.go
@@ -16,12 +16,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 package util
 
-import (
-	flag "github.com/spf13/pflag"
-)
+import "github.com/spf13/pflag"
 
 // InitFlags normalizes and parses the command line flags
 func InitFlags() {
+	pflag.CommandLine.SetWordSeparators([]string{"-", "_"})
 	AddAllFlagsToPFlags()
-	flag.Parse()
+	pflag.Parse()
 }
diff --git a/pkg/util/pflag_import.go b/pkg/util/pflag_import.go
index fcef3175de0..71a3523e6f4 100644
--- a/pkg/util/pflag_import.go
+++ b/pkg/util/pflag_import.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func (v *flagValueWrapper) IsBoolFlag() bool {
 
 // Imports a 'flag.Flag' into a 'pflag.FlagSet'.  The "short" option is unset
 // and the type is inferred using reflection.
-func AddFlagToPFlagSet(f *flag.Flag, fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
+func addFlagToPFlagSet(f *flag.Flag, fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	if fs.Lookup(f.Name) == nil {
 		fs.Var(wrapFlagValue(f.Value), f.Name, f.Usage)
 	}
@@ -88,16 +88,11 @@ func AddFlagToPFlagSet(f *flag.Flag, fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 // Adds all of the flags in a 'flag.FlagSet' package flags to a 'pflag.FlagSet'.
 func AddFlagSetToPFlagSet(fsIn *flag.FlagSet, fsOut *pflag.FlagSet) {
 	fsIn.VisitAll(func(f *flag.Flag) {
-		AddFlagToPFlagSet(f, fsOut)
+		addFlagToPFlagSet(f, fsOut)
 	})
 }
 
-// Adds all of the top level 'flag' package flags to a 'pflag.FlagSet'.
-func AddAllFlagsToPFlagSet(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
-	AddFlagSetToPFlagSet(flag.CommandLine, fs)
-}
-
-// Add al of the top level 'flag' package flags to the top level 'pflag' flags.
+// Add all of the top level 'flag' package flags to the top level 'pflag' flags.
 func AddAllFlagsToPFlags() {
 	AddFlagSetToPFlagSet(flag.CommandLine, pflag.CommandLine)
 }