diff --git a/xCAT-client/bin/xcatDBcmds b/xCAT-client/bin/xcatDBcmds
index cf49c6556..c99d07fc4 100755
--- a/xCAT-client/bin/xcatDBcmds
+++ b/xCAT-client/bin/xcatDBcmds
@@ -99,7 +99,8 @@ foreach my $a (@ARGV)
 my @checkcmds = ("nimnodeset", "mkdsklsnode", "rmdsklsnode", "xcat2nim", "nimnodecust");
 if (grep(/^$bname$/, @checkcmds) ) { 
 	# strip off all options
-	getopts('ab:d:Dfh?i:lurs:m:no:t:vVp:M');
+	# use getopt instead of getopts to let long options pass through
+	getopt('ab:d:Dfh?i:lurs:m:no:t:vVp:M');
 	# check the operands for a noderange
 	while (my $a = shift(@ARGV)) {
 		if (!($a =~ /=/) && !($a =~ /^-/)) {