diff --git a/maven-mboot/src/bash/mboot b/maven-mboot/src/bash/mboot
index 93b91bc52d..c2ca0d6556 100755
--- a/maven-mboot/src/bash/mboot
+++ b/maven-mboot/src/bash/mboot
@@ -2,12 +2,23 @@
 
 VERSION=1.0
 
+usage () 
+{
+  echo "usage: `basename $0` [--dir=<directory>] [--jar=<name>] [--leave-boot-files] [--version] [--help]" >&2
+  echo "" >&2
+  echo "       (ex: `basename $0` --dir=../builds/plexus --jar=plexus.jar)" >&2
+  exit 1
+}
+
 dir="."
 jar=""
 leaveBootFiles=""
 
 while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
     case $1 in
+	--help)
+	    usage
+	    ;;
 	--version)
 	    echo "mboot: version $VERSION"
 	    exit 0