diff --git a/electrum/commands.py b/electrum/commands.py
index 7a9c0857a..e2cf87a26 100644
--- a/electrum/commands.py
+++ b/electrum/commands.py
@@ -832,7 +832,7 @@ def add_global_options(parser):
     group = parser.add_argument_group('global options')
     # const is for when no argument is given to verbosity
     # default is for when the flag is missing
-    group.add_argument("-v", "--verbosity", dest="verbosity", help="Set verbosity filter", default='', const='*', nargs='?')
+    group.add_argument("-v", dest="verbosity", help="Set verbosity filter", default='', const='*', nargs='?')
     group.add_argument("-D", "--dir", dest="electrum_path", help="electrum directory")
     group.add_argument("-P", "--portable", action="store_true", dest="portable", default=False, help="Use local 'electrum_data' directory")
     group.add_argument("-w", "--wallet", dest="wallet_path", help="wallet path")
diff --git a/run_electrum b/run_electrum
index 46654ec1f..dd35c3516 100755
--- a/run_electrum
+++ b/run_electrum
@@ -335,6 +335,14 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         sys.argv.remove('help')
         sys.argv.append('-h')
 
+    # old '-v' syntax
+    try:
+        i = sys.argv.index('-v')
+    except ValueError:
+        pass
+    else:
+        sys.argv[i] = '-v*'
+
     # read arguments from stdin pipe and prompt
     for i, arg in enumerate(sys.argv):
         if arg == '-':