diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
index d55a9d0c1..23710637f 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ parseCommandHelp :: CommandHelpStr -> Maybe CommandHelp
 parseCommandHelp t =
   case lines t of
     [] -> Nothing
-    (l1:_:l3:ls) -> Just $ CommandHelp cmdname (Just cmdalias) preamble postamble
+    (l1:_:l3:ls) -> Just $ CommandHelp cmdname (if null cmdalias then Nothing else Just cmdalias) preamble postamble
       where
         cmdname = l1
         (cmdalias, rest) =