diff --git a/scripts/vcs b/scripts/vcs
index 04a306ed..c0f906fa 100755
--- a/scripts/vcs
+++ b/scripts/vcs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python
 
 import sys
-from vcstool.commands.help import main
+from vcstool.commands.vcs import main
 
 sys.exit(main() or 0)
diff --git a/scripts/vcs-help b/scripts/vcs-help
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..04a306ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/vcs-help
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import sys
+from vcstool.commands.help import main
+
+sys.exit(main() or 0)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ddcca663..ac254403 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
     license='BSD',
     entry_points={
         'console_scripts': [
-            'vcs = vcstool.commands.help:main',
+            'vcs = vcstool.commands.vcs:main',
             'vcs-branch = vcstool.commands.branch:main',
             'vcs-diff = vcstool.commands.diff:main',
             'vcs-export = vcstool.commands.export:main',
diff --git a/vcstool/commands/help.py b/vcstool/commands/help.py
index facc308d..fd1bdb52 100644
--- a/vcstool/commands/help.py
+++ b/vcstool/commands/help.py
@@ -13,23 +13,13 @@ def main(args=None):
     parser = get_parser(add_help=False)
     ns, _ = parser.parse_known_args(args)
 
-    if ns.command and ns.command != 'help':
-        # accept command with same prefix if unique
-        commands = [cmd.command for cmd in vcstool_commands]
-        commands = [cmd for cmd in commands if cmd.startswith(ns.command)]
-        if len(commands) != 1:
-            print("vcs: '%s' is not a vcs command. See 'vcs help'." % ns.command)
-            if commands:
-                print('\n\
-Did you mean one of these?\n\
-   %s' % '\n   '.join(commands), file=sys.stderr)
+    # help for a specific command
+    if ns.command:
+        # relay help request foe specific command
+        entrypoint = get_entrypoint(ns.command)
+        if not entrypoint:
             return 1
-
-        entrypoint = load_entry_point('vcstool', 'console_scripts', 'vcs-%s' % commands[0])
-        if args is None:
-            args = sys.argv[1:]
-        args.remove(ns.command)
-        return entrypoint(args)
+        return entrypoint(['--help'])
 
     # regular parsing validating options and arguments
     parser = get_parser()
@@ -57,6 +47,21 @@ def get_parser(add_help=True):
     return parser
 
 
+def get_entrypoint(command):
+    # accept command with same prefix if unique
+    commands = [cmd.command for cmd in vcstool_commands]
+    commands = [cmd for cmd in commands if cmd.startswith(command)]
+    if len(commands) != 1:
+        print("vcs: '%s' is not a vcs command. See 'vcs help'." % command, file=sys.stderr)
+        if commands:
+            print('\n\
+Did you mean one of these?\n\
+   %s' % '\n   '.join(commands), file=sys.stderr)
+        return None
+
+    return load_entry_point('vcstool', 'console_scripts', 'vcs-%s' % commands[0])
+
+
 def get_parser_with_command_only():
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(prog='vcs', usage='%(prog)s <command>', formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter, description='%s\n\n%s' % (_get_description(), '\n'.join(_get_command_help(vcstool_commands))), epilog=_get_epilog(), add_help=False)
     parser.add_argument('command', help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
diff --git a/vcstool/commands/vcs.py b/vcstool/commands/vcs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..983646f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vcstool/commands/vcs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from __future__ import print_function
+
+import sys
+
+from vcstool.commands.help import get_entrypoint, get_parser
+from vcstool.commands.help import main as help_main
+
+
+def main(args=None):
+    # no help to extract command first (which might be followed by --help)
+    parser = get_parser(add_help=False)
+    ns, _ = parser.parse_known_args(args)
+    args = args if args is not None else sys.argv[1:]
+
+    # relay to specific command
+    if ns.command and ns.command != 'help':
+        entrypoint = get_entrypoint(ns.command)
+        if not entrypoint:
+            return 1
+
+        args.remove(ns.command)
+        return entrypoint(args)
+
+    # remove help command if specified
+    if ns.command:
+        args.remove(ns.command)
+
+    return help_main(args)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    sys.exit(main())