diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index a9ef3ee..e12f07f 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@
 Core and builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Patch #1521179: Python now accepts the standard options ``--help`` and
+  ``--version`` as well as ``/?`` on Windows.
+
 - Bug #1520864: unpacking singleton tuples in for loop (for x, in) work
   again.  Fixing this problem required changing the .pyc magic number.
   This means that .pyc files generated before 2.5c1 will be regenerated.
diff --git a/Modules/main.c b/Modules/main.c
index 0beea73..ac5f96e 100644
--- a/Modules/main.c
+++ b/Modules/main.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 static int  orig_argc;
 
 /* command line options */
-#define BASE_OPTS "c:dEhim:OQ:StuUvVW:xX"
+#define BASE_OPTS "c:dEhim:OQ:StuUvVW:xX?"
 
 #ifndef RISCOS
 #define PROGRAM_OPTS BASE_OPTS
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 -c cmd : program passed in as string (terminates option list)\n\
 -d     : debug output from parser (also PYTHONDEBUG=x)\n\
 -E     : ignore environment variables (such as PYTHONPATH)\n\
--h     : print this help message and exit\n\
+-h     : print this help message and exit (also --help)\n\
 -i     : inspect interactively after running script, (also PYTHONINSPECT=x)\n\
          and force prompts, even if stdin does not appear to be a terminal\n\
 ";
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
 static char *usage_3 = "\
          see man page for details on internal buffering relating to '-u'\n\
 -v     : verbose (trace import statements) (also PYTHONVERBOSE=x)\n\
--V     : print the Python version number and exit\n\
+-V     : print the Python version number and exit (also --version)\n\
 -W arg : warning control (arg is action:message:category:module:lineno)\n\
 -x     : skip first line of source, allowing use of non-Unix forms of #!cmd\n\
 file   : program read from script file\n\
@@ -313,6 +313,7 @@
 			Py_UnicodeFlag++;
 			break;
 		case 'h':
+		case '?':
 			help++;
 			break;
 		case 'V':
diff --git a/Python/getopt.c b/Python/getopt.c
index 5429fac..659efcf 100644
--- a/Python/getopt.c
+++ b/Python/getopt.c
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
  * davegottner@delphi.com.
  *---------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
+/* Modified to support --help and --version, as well as /? on Windows
+ * by Georg Brandl. */
+
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
@@ -43,8 +46,17 @@
 
 	if (*opt_ptr == '\0') {
 
-		if (_PyOS_optind >= argc || argv[_PyOS_optind][0] != '-' ||
-		    argv[_PyOS_optind][1] == '\0' /* lone dash */ )
+		if (_PyOS_optind >= argc)
+			return -1;
+#ifdef MS_WINDOWS
+		else if (strcmp(argv[_PyOS_optind], "/?") == 0) {
+			++_PyOS_optind;
+			return 'h';
+		}
+#endif
+
+		else if (argv[_PyOS_optind][0] != '-' ||
+		         argv[_PyOS_optind][1] == '\0' /* lone dash */ )
 			return -1;
 
 		else if (strcmp(argv[_PyOS_optind], "--") == 0) {
@@ -52,6 +64,17 @@
 			return -1;
 		}
 
+		else if (strcmp(argv[_PyOS_optind], "--help") == 0) {
+			++_PyOS_optind;
+			return 'h';
+		}
+
+		else if (strcmp(argv[_PyOS_optind], "--version") == 0) {
+			++_PyOS_optind;
+			return 'V';
+		}
+
+
 		opt_ptr = &argv[_PyOS_optind++][1]; 
 	}
 
@@ -62,7 +85,7 @@
 		if (_PyOS_opterr)
 			fprintf(stderr, "Unknown option: -%c\n", option);
 
-		return '?';
+		return '_';
 	}
 
 	if (*(ptr + 1) == ':') {
@@ -76,7 +99,7 @@
 				if (_PyOS_opterr)
 					fprintf(stderr,
 			    "Argument expected for the -%c option\n", option);
-				return '?';
+				return '_';
 			}
 
 			_PyOS_optarg = argv[_PyOS_optind++];