diff --git a/editor.c b/editor.c
index 607faa3..73aba62 100644
--- a/editor.c
+++ b/editor.c
@@ -2537,7 +2537,7 @@ static int _editor_init_from_args(editor_t *editor, int argc, char **argv) {
                 }
                 break;
             case 'y':
-                editor->syntax_override = strcmp(optarg, "-") == 0 ? "syn_generic" : optarg;
+                editor->syntax_override = strcmp(optarg, "y") == 0 ? "syn_generic" : optarg;
                 break;
             case 'z':
                 editor->trim_paste = atoi(optarg) ? 1 : 0;
diff --git a/tests/func/test_syntax.sh b/tests/func/test_syntax.sh
index 7c3e236..31376aa 100755
--- a/tests/func/test_syntax.sh
+++ b/tests/func/test_syntax.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ bbb "aaa"          bbb "aaa"          bbb
 bbb "aaa \" aaa"   bbb "aaa \" aaa"   bbb
 bbb "aaa \" aaa\\" bbb "aaa \" aaa\\" bbb
 EOD
-extra_opts=(-y- $tmpf)
+extra_opts=(-yy $tmpf)
 macro=''
 declare -A expected
 declare -A not_expected
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ cat >$tmpf <<"EOD"
 /*bb"bb*/    "aa/*aa"
 /*bb"bb"bb*/ "aa/*aa*/aa"
 EOD
-extra_opts=(-y- $tmpf)
+extra_opts=(-yy $tmpf)
 macro=''
 declare -A expected
 declare -A not_expected