diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/cat/AbstractCatAction.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/cat/AbstractCatAction.java
index 68dcc2f1a11..b32d4824f81 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/cat/AbstractCatAction.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/cat/AbstractCatAction.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractCatAction extends BaseRestHandler {
 
     @Override
     public void handleRequest(final RestRequest request, final RestChannel channel) {
-        boolean helpWanted = request.paramAsBoolean("h", false);
+        boolean helpWanted = request.paramAsBoolean("help", false);
         if (helpWanted) {
             Table table = getTableWithHeader(request);
             int[] width = buildHelpWidths(table, request, false);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/support/RestTable.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/support/RestTable.java
index 02a1917be02..101ad9e6d25 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/support/RestTable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/rest/action/support/RestTable.java
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public class RestTable {
     }
 
     private static List<DisplayHeader> buildDisplayHeaders(Table table, RestRequest request) {
-        String pHeaders = request.param("headers");
+        String pHeaders = request.param("h");
         List<DisplayHeader> display = new ArrayList<DisplayHeader>();
         if (pHeaders != null) {
             for (String possibility : Strings.splitStringByCommaToArray(pHeaders)) {