diff --git a/pigz.c b/pigz.c
index 97e6faa..29d88c3 100644
--- a/pigz.c
+++ b/pigz.c
@@ -2940,6 +2940,9 @@ local int option(char *arg)
                     arg = longopts[j][1];
                     break;
                 }
+            /* double dash to terminate option processing */
+            if (*(arg-1) == '-')
+                return 2;
             if (j < 0)
                 bail("invalid option: ", arg - 2);
         }
@@ -3061,6 +3064,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     int n;                          /* general index */
     unsigned long done;             /* number of named files processed */
     char *opts, *p;                 /* environment default options, marker */
+    int doubledash;	            /* -- to terminate option checking */
 
     /* prepare for interrupts and logging */
     signal(SIGINT, cut_short);
@@ -3106,15 +3110,20 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     /* process command-line arguments */
     done = 0;
-    for (n = 1; n < argc; n++)
-        if (option(argv[n])) {          /* true if file name, process it */
+    doubledash = 0;
+    for (n = 1; n < argc; n++) {
+        int optionreturn = doubledash ? 1 : option(argv[n]);
+        if (optionreturn == 1) { /* true if file name, process it */
             if (done == 1 && pipeout && !decode && !list && form > 1) {
                 fprintf(stderr, "warning: output is concatenated zip files ");
                 fprintf(stderr, "-- pigz will not be able to extract\n");
             }
             process(strcmp(argv[n], "-") ? argv[n] : NULL);
             done++;
+        } else if (optionreturn == 2) {
+            doubledash++;
         }
+    }
     option(NULL);
 
     /* list stdin or compress stdin to stdout if no file names provided */