diff --git a/console-tools/deallocvt.c b/console-tools/deallocvt.c
index 9c477d238..a5b5a03f0 100644
--- a/console-tools/deallocvt.c
+++ b/console-tools/deallocvt.c
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ int deallocvt_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	int fd, num, i;
 
-	if ((argc != 2) || (**(argv + 1) == '-'))
+	if ((argc > 2) || ((argv == 2) && (**(argv + 1) == '-')))
 		usage(deallocvt_usage);
 
 	fd = get_console_fd("/dev/console");
diff --git a/deallocvt.c b/deallocvt.c
index 9c477d238..a5b5a03f0 100644
--- a/deallocvt.c
+++ b/deallocvt.c
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ int deallocvt_main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	int fd, num, i;
 
-	if ((argc != 2) || (**(argv + 1) == '-'))
+	if ((argc > 2) || ((argv == 2) && (**(argv + 1) == '-')))
 		usage(deallocvt_usage);
 
 	fd = get_console_fd("/dev/console");