diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
index cbfba50a0..bc8b96fce 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/CliOptions.hs
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ parseHelpTemplate t =
     [] -> Nothing
     (l:ls) -> Just (names, shorthelp, longhelplines)
       where
-        names = words $ map (\c -> if c==',' then ' ' else c) l
+        names = words $ map (\c -> if c `elem` [',','\\'] then ' ' else c) l
         (shorthelpls, longhelpls) = break (== "_FLAGS_") ls
         shorthelp = unlines $ reverse $ dropWhile null $ reverse shorthelpls
         longhelplines = dropWhile null $ drop 1 longhelpls