diff --git a/parse-options.c b/parse-options.c
index f8a155ee13..817416db99 100644
--- a/parse-options.c
+++ b/parse-options.c
@@ -1109,6 +1109,7 @@ static enum parse_opt_result usage_with_options_internal(struct parse_opt_ctx_t
 	for (; opts->type != OPTION_END; opts++) {
 		size_t pos;
 		int pad;
+		const char *cp, *np;
 
 		if (opts->type == OPTION_SUBCOMMAND)
 			continue;
@@ -1157,7 +1158,16 @@ static enum parse_opt_result usage_with_options_internal(struct parse_opt_ctx_t
 				   (const char *)opts->value);
 			continue;
 		}
-		fprintf(outfile, "%*s%s\n", pad + USAGE_GAP, "", _(opts->help));
+
+		for (cp = _(opts->help); *cp; cp = np) {
+			np = strchrnul(cp, '\n');
+			fprintf(outfile,
+				"%*s%.*s\n", pad + USAGE_GAP, "",
+				(int)(np - cp), cp);
+			if (*np)
+				np++;
+			pad = USAGE_OPTS_WIDTH;
+		}
 	}
 	fputc('\n', outfile);
 
diff --git a/t/helper/test-parse-options.c b/t/helper/test-parse-options.c
index 00fa281a9c..a4f6e24b0c 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-parse-options.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-parse-options.c
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ int cmd__parse_options(int argc, const char **argv)
 		OPT_STRING(0, "st", &string, "st", "get another string (pervert ordering)"),
 		OPT_STRING('o', NULL, &string, "str", "get another string"),
 		OPT_NOOP_NOARG(0, "obsolete"),
+		OPT_SET_INT_F(0, "longhelp", &integer, "help text of this entry\n"
+			      "spans multiple lines", 0, PARSE_OPT_NONEG),
 		OPT_STRING_LIST(0, "list", &list, "str", "add str to list"),
 		OPT_GROUP("Magic arguments"),
 		OPT_NUMBER_CALLBACK(&integer, "set integer to NUM",
diff --git a/t/t0040-parse-options.sh b/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
index 7d7ecfd571..83e5d4eeb6 100755
--- a/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
+++ b/t/t0040-parse-options.sh
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ String options
     --string2 <str>       get another string
     --st <st>             get another string (pervert ordering)
     -o <str>              get another string
+    --longhelp            help text of this entry
+                          spans multiple lines
     --list <str>          add str to list
 
 Magic arguments