diff --git a/tools/patman/control.py b/tools/patman/control.py
index b481ff6b27..e67867b845 100644
--- a/tools/patman/control.py
+++ b/tools/patman/control.py
@@ -152,24 +152,24 @@ def email_patches(col, series, cover_fname, patch_files, process_tags, its_a_go,
 
     os.remove(cc_file)
 
-def send(options):
+def send(args):
     """Create, check and send patches by email
 
     Args:
-        options (optparse.Values): Arguments to patman
+        args (argparse.Namespace): Arguments to patman
     """
     setup()
     col = terminal.Color()
     series, cover_fname, patch_files = prepare_patches(
-        col, options.branch, options.count, options.start, options.end,
-        options.ignore_binary)
-    ok = check_patches(series, patch_files, options.check_patch,
-                       options.verbose)
+        col, args.branch, args.count, args.start, args.end,
+        args.ignore_binary)
+    ok = check_patches(series, patch_files, args.check_patch,
+                       args.verbose)
 
-    its_a_go = ok or options.ignore_errors
+    its_a_go = ok or args.ignore_errors
     if its_a_go:
         email_patches(
-            col, series, cover_fname, patch_files, options.process_tags,
-            its_a_go, options.ignore_bad_tags, options.add_maintainers,
-            options.limit, options.dry_run, options.in_reply_to, options.thread,
-            options.smtp_server)
+            col, series, cover_fname, patch_files, args.process_tags,
+            its_a_go, args.ignore_bad_tags, args.add_maintainers,
+            args.limit, args.dry_run, args.in_reply_to, args.thread,
+            args.smtp_server)
diff --git a/tools/patman/main.py b/tools/patman/main.py
index 4d7a3044ea..34cad9a562 100755
--- a/tools/patman/main.py
+++ b/tools/patman/main.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 """See README for more information"""
 
-from optparse import OptionParser
+from argparse import ArgumentParser
 import os
 import re
 import sys
@@ -27,71 +27,70 @@ from patman import terminal
 from patman import test_util
 from patman import test_checkpatch
 
+epilog = '''Create patches from commits in a branch, check them and email them
+as specified by tags you place in the commits. Use -n to do a dry run first.'''
 
-parser = OptionParser()
-parser.add_option('-H', '--full-help', action='store_true', dest='full_help',
+parser = ArgumentParser(epilog=epilog)
+parser.add_argument('-H', '--full-help', action='store_true', dest='full_help',
        default=False, help='Display the README file')
-parser.add_option('-b', '--branch', type='str',
+parser.add_argument('-b', '--branch', type=str,
                   help="Branch to process (by default, the current branch)")
-parser.add_option('-c', '--count', dest='count', type='int',
+parser.add_argument('-c', '--count', dest='count', type=int,
        default=-1, help='Automatically create patches from top n commits')
-parser.add_option('-e', '--end', type='int', default=0,
+parser.add_argument('-e', '--end', type=int, default=0,
                   help='Commits to skip at end of patch list')
-parser.add_option('-i', '--ignore-errors', action='store_true',
+parser.add_argument('-i', '--ignore-errors', action='store_true',
        dest='ignore_errors', default=False,
        help='Send patches email even if patch errors are found')
-parser.add_option('-l', '--limit-cc', dest='limit', type='int',
-       default=None, help='Limit the cc list to LIMIT entries [default: %default]')
-parser.add_option('-m', '--no-maintainers', action='store_false',
+parser.add_argument('-l', '--limit-cc', dest='limit', type=int, default=None,
+       help='Limit the cc list to LIMIT entries [default: %(default)]')
+parser.add_argument('-m', '--no-maintainers', action='store_false',
        dest='add_maintainers', default=True,
        help="Don't cc the file maintainers automatically")
-parser.add_option('-n', '--dry-run', action='store_true', dest='dry_run',
+parser.add_argument('-n', '--dry-run', action='store_true', dest='dry_run',
        default=False, help="Do a dry run (create but don't email patches)")
-parser.add_option('-p', '--project', default=project.DetectProject(),
-                  help="Project name; affects default option values and "
-                  "aliases [default: %default]")
-parser.add_option('-r', '--in-reply-to', type='string', action='store',
+parser.add_argument('-p', '--project', default=project.DetectProject(),
+                    help="Project name; affects default option values and "
+                    "aliases [default: %(default)]")
+parser.add_argument('-r', '--in-reply-to', type=str, action='store',
                   help="Message ID that this series is in reply to")
-parser.add_option('-s', '--start', dest='start', type='int',
+parser.add_argument('-s', '--start', dest='start', type=int,
        default=0, help='Commit to start creating patches from (0 = HEAD)')
-parser.add_option('-t', '--ignore-bad-tags', action='store_true',
-                  default=False, help='Ignore bad tags / aliases')
-parser.add_option('-v', '--verbose', action='store_true', dest='verbose',
+parser.add_argument('-t', '--ignore-bad-tags', action='store_true',
+                    default=False, help='Ignore bad tags / aliases')
+parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', action='store_true', dest='verbose',
        default=False, help='Verbose output of errors and warnings')
-parser.add_option('-T', '--thread', action='store_true', dest='thread',
-                  default=False, help='Create patches as a single thread')
-parser.add_option('--cc-cmd', dest='cc_cmd', type='string', action='store',
+parser.add_argument('-T', '--thread', action='store_true', dest='thread',
+                    default=False, help='Create patches as a single thread')
+parser.add_argument('--cc-cmd', dest='cc_cmd', type=str, action='store',
        default=None, help='Output cc list for patch file (used by git)')
-parser.add_option('--no-binary', action='store_true', dest='ignore_binary',
-                  default=False,
-                  help="Do not output contents of changes in binary files")
-parser.add_option('--no-check', action='store_false', dest='check_patch',
-                  default=True,
-                  help="Don't check for patch compliance")
-parser.add_option('--no-tags', action='store_false', dest='process_tags',
-                  default=True, help="Don't process subject tags as aliases")
-parser.add_option('--smtp-server', type='str',
-                  help="Specify the SMTP server to 'git send-email'")
-parser.add_option('--test', action='store_true', dest='test',
-                  default=False, help='run tests')
-
-parser.usage += """
-
-Create patches from commits in a branch, check them and email them as
-specified by tags you place in the commits. Use -n to do a dry run first."""
-
+parser.add_argument('--no-binary', action='store_true', dest='ignore_binary',
+                    default=False,
+                    help="Do not output contents of changes in binary files")
+parser.add_argument('--no-check', action='store_false', dest='check_patch',
+                    default=True,
+                    help="Don't check for patch compliance")
+parser.add_argument('--no-tags', action='store_false', dest='process_tags',
+                    default=True, help="Don't process subject tags as aliases")
+parser.add_argument('--smtp-server', type=str,
+                    help="Specify the SMTP server to 'git send-email'")
+parser.add_argument('--test', action='store_true', dest='test',
+                    default=False, help='run tests')
+
+parser.add_argument('patchfiles', nargs='*')
 
 # Parse options twice: first to get the project and second to handle
 # defaults properly (which depends on project).
-(options, args) = parser.parse_args()
-settings.Setup(gitutil, parser, options.project, '')
-(options, args) = parser.parse_args()
+argv = sys.argv[1:]
+args = parser.parse_args(argv)
+settings.Setup(gitutil, parser, args.project, '')
+args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
 if __name__ != "__main__":
     pass
 
 # Run our meagre tests
-elif options.test:
+elif args.test:
     import doctest
     from patman import func_test
 
@@ -109,19 +108,19 @@ elif options.test:
 
 # Called from git with a patch filename as argument
 # Printout a list of additional CC recipients for this patch
-elif options.cc_cmd:
-    fd = open(options.cc_cmd, 'r')
+elif args.cc_cmd:
+    fd = open(args.cc_cmd, 'r')
     re_line = re.compile('(\S*) (.*)')
     for line in fd.readlines():
         match = re_line.match(line)
-        if match and match.group(1) == args[0]:
+        if match and match.group(1) == args.patchfiles[0]:
             for cc in match.group(2).split('\0'):
                 cc = cc.strip()
                 if cc:
                     print(cc)
     fd.close()
 
-elif options.full_help:
+elif args.full_help:
     pager = os.getenv('PAGER')
     if not pager:
         pager = 'more'
@@ -131,4 +130,4 @@ elif options.full_help:
 
 # Process commits, produce patches files, check them, email them
 else:
-    control.send(options)
+    control.send(args)
diff --git a/tools/patman/settings.py b/tools/patman/settings.py
index 635561ac05..732bd40106 100644
--- a/tools/patman/settings.py
+++ b/tools/patman/settings.py
@@ -233,17 +233,19 @@ def _UpdateDefaults(parser, config):
         config: An instance of _ProjectConfigParser that we will query
             for settings.
     """
-    defaults = parser.get_default_values()
+    defaults = parser.parse_known_args()[0]
+    defaults = vars(defaults)
     for name, val in config.items('settings'):
-        if hasattr(defaults, name):
-            default_val = getattr(defaults, name)
+        if name in defaults:
+            default_val = defaults[name]
             if isinstance(default_val, bool):
                 val = config.getboolean('settings', name)
             elif isinstance(default_val, int):
                 val = config.getint('settings', name)
-            parser.set_default(name, val)
+            defaults[name] = val
         else:
             print("WARNING: Unknown setting %s" % name)
+        parser.set_defaults(**defaults)
 
 def _ReadAliasFile(fname):
     """Read in the U-Boot git alias file if it exists.
