diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index a024a2e6..e08b809b 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-SUBDIRS = lib/libalpm src/util src/pacman scripts etc test/pacman test/util
+SUBDIRS = lib/libalpm src/util src/pacman scripts etc test/pacman test/util test/scripts
 if WANT_DOC
 SUBDIRS += doc
 endif
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ dist_pkgdata_DATA = \
 	proto/ChangeLog.proto
 
 # run the pactest test suite and vercmp tests
-check-local: test/pacman test/util src/pacman src/util
+check-local: test/pacman test/scripts test/util src/pacman src/util
 	LC_ALL=C $(PYTHON) $(top_srcdir)/test/pacman/pactest.py --debug=1 \
 		--test $(top_srcdir)/test/pacman/tests/*.py \
 		-p $(top_builddir)/src/pacman/pacman
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ check-local: test/pacman test/util src/pacman src/util
 		$(top_builddir)/src/util/pacsort
 	$(SH) $(top_srcdir)/test/util/vercmptest.sh \
 		$(top_builddir)/src/util/vercmp
+	$(BASH_SHELL) $(top_srcdir)/test/scripts/parseopts_test.sh \
+		$(top_srcdir)/scripts/library/parseopts.sh
 
 # create the pacman DB and cache directories upon install
 install-data-local:
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8898f146..d488bfaf 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -442,6 +442,7 @@ doc/Makefile
 etc/Makefile
 test/pacman/Makefile
 test/pacman/tests/Makefile
+test/scripts/Makefile
 test/util/Makefile
 contrib/Makefile
 Makefile
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.am b/scripts/Makefile.am
index 328fbff2..7662fba6 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.am
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 
 LIBRARY = \
 	library/output_format.sh \
+	library/parseopts.sh \
 	library/parse_options.sh
 
 # Files that should be removed, but which Automake does not know.
diff --git a/scripts/library/README b/scripts/library/README
index 1e9c962b..f43873f3 100644
--- a/scripts/library/README
+++ b/scripts/library/README
@@ -13,3 +13,23 @@ A getopt replacement to avoids portability issues, in particular the
 lack of long option name support in the default getopt provided by some
 platforms.
 Usage: parse_option $SHORT_OPTS $LONG_OPTS "$@"
+
+parseopts.sh:
+A getopt_long-like parser which portably supports longopts and shortopts
+with some GNU extensions. It does not allow for options with optional
+arguments. For both short and long opts, options requiring an argument
+should be suffixed with a colon. After the first argument containing
+the short opts, any number of valid long opts may be be passed. The end
+of the options delimiter must then be added, followed by the user arguments
+to the calling program.
+
+Reccommended Usage:
+  OPT_SHORT='fb:z'
+  OPT_LONG=('foo' 'bar:' 'baz')
+  if ! parseopts "$OPT_SHORT" "${OPT_LONG[@]}" -- "$@"; then
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  set -- "${OPTRET[@]}"
+Returns:
+  0: parse success
+  1: parse failure (error message supplied)
diff --git a/scripts/library/parseopts.sh b/scripts/library/parseopts.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..11589ce3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/library/parseopts.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+# getopt-like parser
+parseopts() {
+	local opt= optarg= i= shortopts=$1
+	local -a longopts=() unused_argv=()
+
+	shift
+	while [[ $1 && $1 != '--' ]]; do
+		longopts+=("$1")
+		shift
+	done
+	shift
+
+	longoptmatch() {
+		local o longmatch=()
+		for o in "${longopts[@]}"; do
+			if [[ ${o%:} = "$1" ]]; then
+				longmatch=("$o")
+				break
+			fi
+			[[ ${o%:} = "$1"* ]] && longmatch+=("$o")
+		done
+
+		case ${#longmatch[*]} in
+			1)
+				# success, override with opt and return arg req (0 == none, 1 == required)
+				opt=${longmatch%:}
+				if [[ $longmatch = *: ]]; then
+					return 1
+				else
+					return 0
+				fi ;;
+			0)
+				# fail, no match found
+				return 255 ;;
+			*)
+				# fail, ambiguous match
+				printf "@SCRIPTNAME@: $(gettext "option '%s' is ambiguous; possibilities:")" "--$1"
+				printf " '%s'" "${longmatch[@]%:}"
+				printf '\n'
+				return 254 ;;
+		esac >&2
+	}
+
+	while (( $# )); do
+		case $1 in
+			--) # explicit end of options
+				shift
+				break
+				;;
+			-[!-]*) # short option
+				for (( i = 1; i < ${#1}; i++ )); do
+					opt=${1:i:1}
+
+					# option doesn't exist
+					if [[ $shortopts != *$opt* ]]; then
+						printf "@SCRIPTNAME@: $(gettext "invalid option") -- '%s'\n" "$opt" >&2
+						OPTRET=(--)
+						return 1
+					fi
+
+					OPTRET+=("-$opt")
+					# option requires optarg
+					if [[ $shortopts = *$opt:* ]]; then
+						# if we're not at the end of the option chunk, the rest is the optarg
+						if (( i < ${#1} - 1 )); then
+							OPTRET+=("${1:i+1}")
+							break
+						# if we're at the end, grab the the next positional, if it exists
+						elif (( i == ${#1} - 1 )) && [[ $2 ]]; then
+							OPTRET+=("$2")
+							shift
+							break
+						# parse failure
+						else
+							printf "@SCRIPTNAME@: $(gettext "option requires an argument") -- '%s'\n" "$opt" >&2
+							OPTRET=(--)
+							return 1
+						fi
+					fi
+				done
+				;;
+			--?*=*|--?*) # long option
+				IFS='=' read -r opt optarg <<< "${1#--}"
+				longoptmatch "$opt"
+				case $? in
+					0)
+						# parse failure
+						if [[ $optarg ]]; then
+							printf "@SCRIPTNAME@: $(gettext "option '%s' does not allow an argument")\n" "--$opt" >&2
+							OPTRET=(--)
+							return 1
+						# --longopt
+						else
+							OPTRET+=("--$opt")
+							shift
+							continue 2
+						fi
+						;;
+					1)
+						# --longopt=optarg
+						if [[ $optarg ]]; then
+							OPTRET+=("--$opt" "$optarg")
+							shift
+						# --longopt optarg
+						elif [[ $2 ]]; then
+							OPTRET+=("--$opt" "$2" )
+							shift 2
+						# parse failure
+						else
+							printf "@SCRIPTNAME@: $(gettext "option '%s' requires an argument")\n" "--$opt" >&2
+							OPTRET=(--)
+							return 1
+						fi
+						continue 2
+						;;
+					254)
+						# ambiguous option -- error was reported for us by longoptmatch()
+						OPTRET=(--)
+						return 1
+						;;
+					255)
+						# parse failure
+						printf "@SCRIPTNAME@: $(gettext "invalid option") '--%s'\n" "$opt" >&2
+						OPTRET=(--)
+						return 1
+						;;
+				esac
+				;;
+			*) # non-option arg encountered, add it as a parameter
+				unused_argv+=("$1")
+				;;
+		esac
+		shift
+	done
+
+	# add end-of-opt terminator and any leftover positional parameters
+	OPTRET+=('--' "${unused_argv[@]}" "$@")
+	unset longoptmatch
+
+	return 0
+}
diff --git a/scripts/po/POTFILES.in b/scripts/po/POTFILES.in
index 007e535f..01cc235f 100644
--- a/scripts/po/POTFILES.in
+++ b/scripts/po/POTFILES.in
@@ -9,3 +9,4 @@ scripts/pkgdelta.sh.in
 scripts/repo-add.sh.in
 scripts/library/output_format.sh
 scripts/library/parse_options.sh
+scripts/library/parseopts.sh
diff --git a/test/scripts/Makefile.am b/test/scripts/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b949e880
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/scripts/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+check_SCRIPTS = \
+	parseopts_test.sh
+
+noinst_SCRIPTS = $(check_SCRIPTS)
+
+EXTRA_DIST = \
+	$(check_SCRIPTS)
+
+# vim:set ts=2 sw=2 noet:
diff --git a/test/scripts/parseopts_test.sh b/test/scripts/parseopts_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..b5c07b5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/scripts/parseopts_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+declare -i testcount=0 pass=0 fail=0
+
+# source the library function
+if [[ -z $1 || ! -f $1 ]]; then
+  printf "error: path to parseopts library not provided or does not exist\n"
+  exit 1
+fi
+. "$1"
+
+if ! type -t parseopts >/dev/null; then
+  printf 'parseopts function not found\n'
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+# borrow opts from makepkg
+OPT_SHORT="AcdefFghiLmop:rRsV"
+OPT_LONG=('allsource' 'asroot' 'ignorearch' 'check' 'clean:' 'cleanall' 'nodeps'
+          'noextract' 'force' 'forcever:' 'geninteg' 'help' 'holdver'
+          'install' 'key:' 'log' 'nocolor' 'nobuild' 'nocheck' 'nosign' 'pkg:' 'rmdeps'
+          'repackage' 'skipinteg' 'sign' 'source' 'syncdeps' 'version' 'config:'
+          'noconfirm' 'noprogressbar')
+
+parse() {
+  local result=$1 tokencount=$2; shift 2
+
+  (( ++testcount ))
+  parseopts "$OPT_SHORT" "${OPT_LONG[@]}" -- "$@" 2>/dev/null
+  test_result "$result" "$tokencount" "$*" "${OPTRET[@]}"
+  unset OPTRET
+}
+
+test_result() {
+  local result=$1 tokencount=$2 input=$3; shift 3
+
+  if [[ $result = "$*" ]] && (( tokencount == $# )); then
+    (( ++pass ))
+  else
+    printf '[TEST %3s]: FAIL\n' "$testcount"
+    printf '      input: %s\n' "$input"
+    printf '     output: %s (%s tokens)\n' "$*" "$#"
+    printf '   expected: %s (%s tokens)\n' "$result" "$tokencount"
+    echo
+    (( ++fail ))
+  fi
+}
+
+summarize() {
+  if (( !fail )); then
+    printf 'All %s tests successful\n' "$testcount"
+    exit 0
+  else
+    printf '%s of %s tests failed\n' "$fail" "$testcount"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+}
+trap 'summarize' EXIT
+
+printf 'Beginning parseopts tests\n'
+
+# usage: parse <expected result> <token count> test-params...
+# a failed parse will match only the end of options marker '--'
+
+# no options
+parse '--' 1
+
+# short options
+parse '-s -r --' 3 -s -r
+
+# short options, no spaces
+parse '-s -r --' 3 -sr
+
+# short opt missing an opt arg
+parse '--' 1 -s -p
+
+# short opt with an opt arg
+parse '-p PKGBUILD -L --' 4 -p PKGBUILD -L
+
+# short opt with an opt arg, no space
+parse '-p PKGBUILD --' 3 -pPKGBUILD
+
+# valid shortopts as a long opt
+parse '--' 1 --sir
+
+# long opt wiht no optarg
+parse '--log --' 2 --log
+
+# long opt with missing optarg
+parse '--' 1 -sr --pkg
+
+# long opt with optarg
+parse '--pkg foo --' 3 --pkg foo
+
+# long opt with optarg with whitespace
+parse '--pkg foo bar -- baz' 4 --pkg "foo bar" baz
+
+# long opt with optarg with =
+parse '--pkg foo=bar -- baz' 4 --pkg foo=bar baz
+
+# long opt with explicit optarg
+parse '--pkg bar -- foo baz' 5 foo --pkg=bar baz
+
+# long opt with explicit optarg, with whitespace
+parse '--pkg foo bar -- baz' 4 baz --pkg="foo bar"
+
+# long opt with explicit optarg that doesn't take optarg
+parse '--' 1 --force=always -s
+
+# long opt with explicit optarg with =
+parse '--pkg foo=bar --' 3 --pkg=foo=bar
+
+# explicit end of options with options after
+parse '-s -r -- foo bar baz' 6 -s -r -- foo bar baz
+
+# non-option parameters mixed in with options
+parse '-s -r -- foo baz' 5 -s foo baz -r
+
+# optarg with whitespace
+parse '-p foo bar -s --' 4 -p'foo bar' -s
+
+# non-option parameter with whitespace
+parse '-i -- foo bar' 3 -i 'foo bar'
+
+# successful stem match (opt has no arg)
+parse '--nocolor --' 2 --nocol
+
+# successful stem match (opt has arg)
+parse '--config foo --' 3 --conf foo
+
+# ambiguous long opt
+parse '--' 1 '--for'
+
+# exact match on a possible stem (--force & --forcever)
+parse '--force --' 2 --force
+
+# exact match on possible stem (opt has optarg)
+parse '--clean foo --' 3 --clean=foo