diff --git a/coreutils/fold.c b/coreutils/fold.c
index 8f74ed88d..ee0fdc250 100644
--- a/coreutils/fold.c
+++ b/coreutils/fold.c
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ extern int fold_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int i;
 	int errs = 0;
 
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_FEATURE_SUSv2_OBSOLETE
 	/* Turn any numeric options into -w options.  */
 	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		char const *a = argv[i];
@@ -69,6 +71,7 @@ extern int fold_main(int argc, char **argv)
 			}
 		}
 	}
+#endif
 
 	flags = bb_getopt_ulflags(argc, argv, "bsw:", &w_opt);
 	if (flags & FLAG_WIDTH)
diff --git a/coreutils/head.c b/coreutils/head.c
index dab4de11b..a20873333 100644
--- a/coreutils/head.c
+++ b/coreutils/head.c
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ int head_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int c;
 	int retval = EXIT_SUCCESS;
 
+#if defined CONFIG_FEATURE_SUSv2 || defined CONFIG_FEATURE_FANCY_HEAD
 	/* Allow legacy syntax of an initial numeric option without -n. */
 	if ((argc > 1) && (argv[1][0] == '-')
 		/* && (isdigit)(argv[1][1]) */
@@ -66,7 +67,9 @@ int head_main(int argc, char **argv)
 		p = (*argv) + 1;
 		goto GET_COUNT;
 	}
+#endif
 
+	/* No size benefit in converting this to bb_getopt_ulflags */
 	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, head_opts)) > 0) {
 		switch(opt) {
 #ifdef CONFIG_FEATURE_FANCY_HEAD
diff --git a/coreutils/tail.c b/coreutils/tail.c
index 1db1e2b0f..cc1517a7e 100644
--- a/coreutils/tail.c
+++ b/coreutils/tail.c
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ int tail_main(int argc, char **argv)
 	char *s, *buf;
 	const char *fmt;
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_FEATURE_SUSv2
 	/* Allow legacy syntax of an initial numeric option without -n. */
 	if (argc >=2 && ((argv[1][0] == '+') || ((argv[1][0] == '-')
 			/* && (isdigit)(argv[1][1]) */
@@ -130,6 +131,7 @@ int tail_main(int argc, char **argv)
 		optarg = argv[1];
 		goto GET_COUNT;
 	}
+#endif
 
 	while ((opt = getopt(argc, argv, tail_opts)) > 0) {
 		switch (opt) {
diff --git a/include/usage.h b/include/usage.h
index 53832b987..2cfd2b0c1 100644
--- a/include/usage.h
+++ b/include/usage.h
@@ -766,7 +766,7 @@
 	"/etc/passwd\n"
 
 #define fold_trivial_usage \
-	"[-bsw] [FILE]"
+	"[-bs] [-w WIDTH] [FILE]"
 #define fold_full_usage \
 	"Wrap input lines in each FILE (standard input by default), writing to\n" \
 	"standard output.\n\n" \
diff --git a/sysdeps/linux/Config.in b/sysdeps/linux/Config.in
index 95491c9a0..fb97c8f05 100644
--- a/sysdeps/linux/Config.in
+++ b/sysdeps/linux/Config.in
@@ -203,6 +203,21 @@ config EXTRA_CFLAGS_OPTIONS
 	  if you want to add some simple compiler switches (like -march=i686),
 	  or check for warnings using -Werror, just those options here.
 
+config CONFIG_FEATURE_SUSv2
+	bool "Enable features that are in SuSv2 but not SuSv3?"
+	default y
+	help
+	  This option will enable backwards compatability with SuSv2,
+	  specifically, numeric options such as 'head -1 <file>' will be
+	  supported.
+
+config CONFIG_FEATURE_SUSv2_OBSOLETE
+	bool "Enable features that are obsolete in SuSv2"
+	depends on CONFIG_FEATURE_SUSv2
+	default y
+	help
+	  Disables support for numeric arguments in fold.
+
 endmenu
 
 menu 'Installation Options'