diff --git a/request-key.c b/request-key.c
index 3762e9a..ecd7b79 100644
--- a/request-key.c
+++ b/request-key.c
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <syslog.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
+#include <getopt.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
@@ -32,8 +33,9 @@
 #include "keyutils.h"
 
 
-static int xdebug;
+static int verbosity;
 static int xnolog;
+static int debug_mode;
 static char *xkey;
 static char *xuid;
 static char *xgid;
@@ -75,7 +77,7 @@ static void debug(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list va;
 
-	if (xdebug) {
+	if (verbosity) {
 		va_start(va, fmt);
 		vfprintf(stderr, fmt, va);
 		va_end(va);
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ static void error(const char *fmt, ...)
 {
 	va_list va;
 
-	if (xdebug) {
+	if (verbosity) {
 		va_start(va, fmt);
 		vfprintf(stderr, fmt, va);
 		va_end(va);
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	key_serial_t key;
 	char *ktype, *kdesc, *buf, *callout_info;
-	int ret, ntype, dpos, n, fd;
+	int ret, ntype, dpos, n, fd, opt;
 
 	if (argc == 2 && strcmp(argv[1], "--version") == 0) {
 		printf("request-key from %s (Built %s)\n",
@@ -144,22 +146,25 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	signal(SIGBUS, oops);
 	signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
 
-	for (;;) {
-		if (argc > 1 && strcmp(argv[1], "-d") == 0) {
-			xdebug++;
-			argv++;
-			argc--;
-		}
-		else if (argc > 1 && strcmp(argv[1], "-n") == 0) {
+	while (opt = getopt(argc, argv, "dnv"),
+	       opt != -1) {
+		switch (opt) {
+		case 'd':
+			debug_mode = 1;
+			break;
+		case 'n':
 			xnolog = 1;
-			argv++;
-			argc--;
-		}
-		else
 			break;
+		case 'v':
+			verbosity++;
+			break;
+		}
 	}
 
-	if (argc != 8 && argc != 9)
+	argc -= optind;
+	argv += optind;
+
+	if (argc != 7 && argc != 8)
 		error("Unexpected argument count: %d\n", argc);
 
 	fd = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
@@ -177,24 +182,26 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 			error("dup failed: %m\n");
 	}
 
-	xkey = argv[2];
-	xuid = argv[3];
-	xgid = argv[4];
-	xthread_keyring = argv[5];
-	xprocess_keyring = argv[6];
-	xsession_keyring = argv[7];
+	xkey = argv[1];
+	xuid = argv[2];
+	xgid = argv[3];
+	xthread_keyring = argv[4];
+	xprocess_keyring = argv[5];
+	xsession_keyring = argv[6];
 
 	key = atoi(xkey);
 
 	/* assume authority over the key
 	 * - older kernel doesn't support this function
 	 */
-	ret = keyctl_assume_authority(key);
-	if (ret < 0 && !(argc == 9 || errno == EOPNOTSUPP))
-		error("Failed to assume authority over key %d (%m)\n", key);
+	if (!debug_mode) {
+		ret = keyctl_assume_authority(key);
+		if (ret < 0 && !(argc == 8 || errno == EOPNOTSUPP))
+			error("Failed to assume authority over key %d (%m)\n", key);
+	}
 
 	/* ask the kernel to describe the key to us */
-	if (xdebug < 2) {
+	if (!debug_mode) {
 		ret = keyctl_describe_alloc(key, &buf);
 		if (ret < 0)
 			goto inaccessible;
@@ -220,7 +227,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	debug("Key desc: %s\n", kdesc);
 
 	/* get hold of the callout info */
-	callout_info = argv[8];
+	callout_info = argv[7];
 
 	if (!callout_info) {
 		void *tmp;
@@ -234,7 +241,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	debug("CALLOUT: '%s'\n", callout_info);
 
 	/* determine the action to perform */
-	lookup_action(argv[1],		/* op */
+	lookup_action(argv[0],		/* op */
 		      key,		/* ID of key under construction */
 		      ktype,		/* key type */
 		      kdesc,		/* key description */
@@ -267,7 +274,7 @@ static void lookup_action(char *op,
 
 	/* search the config file for a command to run */
 	if (strlen(ktype) <= sizeof(conffile) - 30) {
-		if (xdebug < 2)
+		if (verbosity < 2)
 			snprintf(conffile, sizeof(conffile) - 1,
 				 "/etc/request-key.d/%s.conf", ktype);
 		else
@@ -280,7 +287,7 @@ static void lookup_action(char *op,
 			error("Cannot open %s: %m\n", conffile);
 	}
 
-	if (xdebug < 2)
+	if (verbosity < 2)
 		snprintf(conffile, sizeof(conffile) - 1, "/etc/request-key.conf");
 	else
 		snprintf(conffile, sizeof(conffile) - 1, "request-key.conf");
@@ -596,7 +603,7 @@ static void execute_program(char *op,
 
 	argv[argc] = NULL;
 
-	if (xdebug) {
+	if (verbosity) {
 		char **ap;
 
 		debug("%s %s\n", pipeit ? "PipeThru" : "Run", prog);
@@ -611,6 +618,11 @@ static void execute_program(char *op,
 	/* if the last argument is a single bar, we spawn off the program dangling on the end of
 	 * three pipes and read the key material from the program, otherwise we just exec
 	 */
+	if (debug_mode) {
+		printf("-- exec disabled --\n");
+		exit(0);
+	}
+
 	if (pipeit)
 		pipe_to_program(op, key, ktype, kdesc, callout_info, prog, argv);
 
@@ -791,7 +803,7 @@ static void pipe_to_program(char *op,
 				nl++;
 				n = nl - errbuf;
 
-				if (xdebug)
+				if (verbosity)
 					fprintf(stderr, "Child: %*.*s", n, n, errbuf);
 
 				if (!xnolog) {
@@ -815,7 +827,7 @@ static void pipe_to_program(char *op,
 			if (espace == 0) {
 				int n = sizeof(errbuf);
 
-				if (xdebug)
+				if (verbosity)
 					fprintf(stderr, "Child: %*.*s", n, n, errbuf);
 
 				if (!xnolog) {
