diff --git a/apps/avifdec.c b/apps/avifdec.c
index 6617187..27ab40d 100644
--- a/apps/avifdec.c
+++ b/apps/avifdec.c
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@
     printf("                        Default: %u, set to a smaller value to further restrict.\n", AVIF_DEFAULT_IMAGE_SIZE_LIMIT);
     printf("  --dimension-limit C : Specifies the image dimension limit (width or height) that should be tolerated.\n");
     printf("                        Default: %u, set to 0 to ignore.\n", AVIF_DEFAULT_IMAGE_DIMENSION_LIMIT);
+    printf("    --                : Signals the end of options. Everything after this is interpreted as file names.\n");
     printf("\n");
     avifPrintVersions();
 }
@@ -79,7 +80,25 @@
     while (argIndex < argc) {
         const char * arg = argv[argIndex];
 
-        if (!strcmp(arg, "-h") || !strcmp(arg, "--help")) {
+        if (!strcmp(arg, "--")) {
+            // Stop parsing flags, everything after this is positional arguments
+            ++argIndex;
+            // Parse additional positional arguments if any.
+            while (argIndex < argc) {
+                arg = argv[argIndex];
+                if (!inputFilename) {
+                    inputFilename = arg;
+                } else if (!outputFilename) {
+                    outputFilename = arg;
+                } else {
+                    fprintf(stderr, "Too many positional arguments: %s\n\n", arg);
+                    syntax();
+                    return 1;
+                }
+                ++argIndex;
+            }
+            break;
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-h") || !strcmp(arg, "--help")) {
             syntax();
             return 0;
         } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-V") || !strcmp(arg, "--version")) {
@@ -176,6 +195,10 @@
                 return 1;
             }
             imageDimensionLimit = (uint32_t)value;
+        } else if (arg[0] == '-') {
+            fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: unrecognized option %s\n\n", arg);
+            syntax();
+            return 1;
         } else {
             // Positional argument
             if (!inputFilename) {
@@ -183,7 +206,7 @@
             } else if (!outputFilename) {
                 outputFilename = arg;
             } else {
-                fprintf(stderr, "Too many positional arguments: %s\n", arg);
+                fprintf(stderr, "Too many positional arguments: %s\n\n", arg);
                 syntax();
                 return 1;
             }
diff --git a/apps/avifenc.c b/apps/avifenc.c
index 1e7c3d6..485b350 100644
--- a/apps/avifenc.c
+++ b/apps/avifenc.c
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@
     printf("    --clap WN,WD,HN,HD,HON,HOD,VON,VOD: Add clap property (clean aperture). Width, Height, HOffset, VOffset (in num/denom pairs)\n");
     printf("    --irot ANGLE                      : Add irot property (rotation). [0-3], makes (90 * ANGLE) degree rotation anti-clockwise\n");
     printf("    --imir MODE                       : Add imir property (mirroring). 0=top-to-bottom, 1=left-to-right\n");
+    printf("    --                                : Signals the end of options. Everything after this is interpreted as file names.\n");
     printf("\n");
     if (avifCodecName(AVIF_CODEC_CHOICE_AOM, 0)) {
         printf("aom-specific advanced options:\n");
@@ -470,7 +471,19 @@
     while (argIndex < argc) {
         const char * arg = argv[argIndex];
 
-        if (!strcmp(arg, "-h") || !strcmp(arg, "--help")) {
+        if (!strcmp(arg, "--")) {
+            // Stop parsing flags, everything after this is positional arguments
+            ++argIndex;
+            // Parse additional positional arguments if any
+            while (argIndex < argc) {
+                arg = argv[argIndex];
+                input.files[input.filesCount].filename = arg;
+                input.files[input.filesCount].duration = outputTiming.duration;
+                ++input.filesCount;
+                ++argIndex;
+            }
+            break;
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-h") || !strcmp(arg, "--help")) {
             syntax();
             goto cleanup;
         } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-V") || !strcmp(arg, "--version")) {
@@ -747,6 +760,11 @@
             matrixCoefficients = AVIF_MATRIX_COEFFICIENTS_IDENTITY; // this is key for lossless
         } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-p") || !strcmp(arg, "--premultiply")) {
             premultiplyAlpha = AVIF_TRUE;
+        } else if (arg[0] == '-') {
+            fprintf(stderr, "ERROR: unrecognized option %s\n\n", arg);
+            syntax();
+            returnCode = 1;
+            goto cleanup;
         } else {
             // Positional argument
             input.files[input.filesCount].filename = arg;
diff --git a/apps/shared/avifutil.c b/apps/shared/avifutil.c
index f6657a1..01c8ec9 100644
--- a/apps/shared/avifutil.c
+++ b/apps/shared/avifutil.c
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@
             return AVIF_APP_FILE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN;
         }
     } else {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Unrecognized file format: %s\n", filename);
+        fprintf(stderr, "Unrecognized file format for input file: %s\n", filename);
         return AVIF_APP_FILE_FORMAT_UNKNOWN;
     }
     return format;
diff --git a/doc/avifdec.1.md b/doc/avifdec.1.md
index 06b25b5..05d0044 100644
--- a/doc/avifdec.1.md
+++ b/doc/avifdec.1.md
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@
     tolerated.
     Default is 32,768. Set it to 0 to ignore the limit.
 
+**\--**
+:   Signals the end of options. Everything after this is interpreted as file names.
+
 # EXAMPLES
 
 Decompress an AVIF file to a PNG file:
diff --git a/doc/avifenc.1.md b/doc/avifenc.1.md
index 7196278..a99cf1a 100644
--- a/doc/avifenc.1.md
+++ b/doc/avifenc.1.md
@@ -226,6 +226,9 @@
     :   - **0** (top-to-bottom)
         - **1** (left-to-right)
 
+**\--**
+:   Signals the end of options. Everything after this is interpreted as file names.
+
 # EXAMPLES
 
 Compress a PNG file to an AVIF file:
diff --git a/tests/test_cmd.sh b/tests/test_cmd.sh
index 3803cd7..c280c0f 100755
--- a/tests/test_cmd.sh
+++ b/tests/test_cmd.sh
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 TMP_ENCODED_FILE=/tmp/encoded.avif
 DECODED_FILE=/tmp/decoded.png
 PNG_FILE=/tmp/kodim03.png
+TMP_ENCODED_FILE_WTH_DASH=-encoded.avif
 
 # Prepare some extra data.
 set +x
@@ -55,6 +56,24 @@
 "${AVIFDEC}" "${TMP_ENCODED_FILE}" "${DECODED_FILE}"
 "${ARE_IMAGES_EQUAL}" "${PNG_FILE}" "${DECODED_FILE}" 0
 
+# Argument parsing test with filenames starting with a dash.
+"${AVIFENC}" -s 10 "${PNG_FILE}" -- "${TMP_ENCODED_FILE_WTH_DASH}"
+"${AVIFDEC}" --info  -- "${TMP_ENCODED_FILE_WTH_DASH}"
+# Passing a filename starting with a dash without using -- should fail.
+set +e
+"${AVIFENC}" -s 10 "${PNG_FILE}" "${TMP_ENCODED_FILE_WTH_DASH}"
+if [[ $? -ne 1 ]]; then
+  echo "Argument parsing should fail for avifenc"
+  exit 1
+fi
+"${AVIFDEC}" --info "${TMP_ENCODED_FILE_WTH_DASH}"
+if [[ $? -ne 1 ]]; then
+  echo "Argument parsing should fail for avifdec"
+  exit 1
+fi
+set -e
+rm -- "${TMP_ENCODED_FILE_WTH_DASH}"
+
 # Test code that should fail.
 set +e
 "${ARE_IMAGES_EQUAL}" "${TESTDATA_DIR}"/kodim23_yuv420_8bpc.y4m "${DECODED_FILE}" 0