diff --git a/datamover/dist/datamover.sh b/datamover/dist/datamover.sh
index ea22a18becb1d22d820bf8da69b1c7b846dced59..6faa1deca221df5a1897f9330257416de2808d2d 100755
--- a/datamover/dist/datamover.sh
+++ b/datamover/dist/datamover.sh
@@ -71,7 +71,10 @@ else
 	JAVA_BIN="java"
 fi
 
-case "$1" in
+command=$1
+# ensure that we ignore a possible prefix "--" for any command 
+command="${command#--*}"
+case "$command" in
         start)
 	        echo -n "Starting Datamover "