diff --git a/plugin/comms/flags.go b/plugin/comms/flags.go
index 4d9d716..06ee750 100644
--- a/plugin/comms/flags.go
+++ b/plugin/comms/flags.go
@@ -13,69 +13,142 @@
 ** THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
 ** WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
 ** COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT,
 ** TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 ** SOFTWARE.
 **/
 
 package comms
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
 )
 
-const (
-	emptyDescription = ""
-	boolDefault      = false
-)
+// ErrOSExitZero is returned when no error has occurred but the program should
+// exit.
+var ErrOSExitZero = errors.New("no error; exit 0")
 
-var (
-	versionFlag bool
-	helpFlag    bool
-)
+const helpMessageFmt = //
+`
+%s plugin for Zabbix Agent 2
 
-func InitCommonFlags() {
-	flag.BoolVar(&versionFlag, "version", boolDefault, emptyDescription)
-	flag.BoolVar(&versionFlag, "V", boolDefault, emptyDescription)
-	flag.BoolVar(&helpFlag, "help", boolDefault, emptyDescription)
-	flag.BoolVar(&helpFlag, "h", boolDefault, emptyDescription)
-}
+Usage of "%s"
+    %s -h
+    %s -V
+
+Options:
+`
+
+// HandleFlags registers and parses version and help command line flags.
+// Help and version should be the only comand line flags a plugin implement as
+// when a plugin is loaded by Agent 2 no comand line flags are passed, how
+// ever arguments are used to establish a socket connection.
+func HandleFlags(
+	pluginName, pluginBinName, copyrightMessage, alphatag string,
+	majorVersion, minorVersion, patchVersion int,
+) error {
+	var (
+		versionFlag bool
+		helpFlag    bool
+	)
+
+	// define a new flag set to avoid collisions with possible user defined
+	// flags.
+	cl := flag.NewFlagSet(os.Args[0], flag.ContinueOnError)
+
+	cl.BoolVar(&versionFlag, "version", false, "Display version number")
+	cl.BoolVar(&versionFlag, "V", false, "Display version number")
+	cl.BoolVar(&helpFlag, "help", false, "Display this help message")
+	cl.BoolVar(&helpFlag, "h", false, "Display this help message")
+
+	helpMessage, err := buildHelpMessage(cl, pluginName, pluginBinName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// cl.Usage is called when an error occurs during flag parsing.
+	cl.Usage = func() {
+		fmt.Print(helpMessage)
+	}
+
+	err = cl.Parse(os.Args[1:])
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
-func VisitCommonFlags(pluginName string, copyrightMessage string, helpMessage string, majorVersion int,
-	minorVersion int, patchVersion int, alphatag string) {
-	if helpFlag || len(os.Args) == 1 {
+	// a plugin when called by agent will always have at least one argument -
+	// socket, hence if there are no arguments the plugin is called manually
+	// and a help message should be printed.
+	if len(os.Args) == 1 {
 		fmt.Print(helpMessage)
-		os.Exit(0)
+
+		return ErrOSExitZero
 	}
 
-	flag.Visit(func(f *flag.Flag) {
+	cl.Visit(func(f *flag.Flag) {
 		switch f.Name {
+		case "h", "help":
+			fmt.Print(helpMessage)
+
+			err = ErrOSExitZero
 		case "V", "version":
-			PrintVersion(pluginName, copyrightMessage, majorVersion, minorVersion, patchVersion, alphatag)
-			os.Exit(0)
+			PrintVersion(
+				pluginName,
+				copyrightMessage,
+				majorVersion,
+				minorVersion,
+				patchVersion,
+				alphatag,
+			)
+
+			err = ErrOSExitZero
 		}
 	})
-}
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 
-func GetCommonHelpMessage() string {
-	return fmt.Sprintf("Usage of \"%s\":\n"+
-		"  zabbix-agent2-plugin-postgresql -h\n"+
-		"  zabbix-agent2-plugin-postgresql -V\n"+
-		"\n"+
-		"Options:\n"+
-		"  -h -help       Display this help message\n"+
-		"  -V -version    Display version number\n",
-		filepath.Base(os.Args[0]))
+	return nil
 }
 
-func HandleCommonFlags(pluginName string, copyrightMessage string, majorVersion int, minorVersion int, patchVersion int,
-	alphatag string) {
-	InitCommonFlags()
+func buildHelpMessage(
+	cl *flag.FlagSet, pluginName, pluginBinName string,
+) (string, error) {
+	allFlags := make(map[string]string)
+	order := []string{
+		"h",
+		"help",
+		"V",
+		"version",
+	}
 
-	flag.Parse()
+	cl.VisitAll(
+		func(f *flag.Flag) {
+			allFlags[f.Name] = f.Usage
+		},
+	)
+
+	if len(allFlags) != len(order) {
+		return "", errors.New("flag count mismatch")
+	}
+
+	w := &bytes.Buffer{}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(
+		w,
+		helpMessageFmt,
+		pluginName,
+		pluginBinName,
+		pluginBinName,
+		pluginBinName,
+	)
+
+	for _, o := range order {
+		fmt.Fprintf(w, "  -%20s %s\n", o, allFlags[o])
+	}
 
-	VisitCommonFlags(pluginName, copyrightMessage, GetCommonHelpMessage(), majorVersion, minorVersion,
-		patchVersion, alphatag)
+	return w.String(), nil
 }