diff --git a/letsencrypt/cli.py b/letsencrypt/cli.py
index 7cb4a0458..81f8a8414 100644
--- a/letsencrypt/cli.py
+++ b/letsencrypt/cli.py
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ class HelpfulArgumentParser(object):
         help2 = self.prescan_for_flag("--help", self.help_topics)
         assert max(True, "a") == "a", "Gravity changed direction"
         help_arg = max(help1, help2)
-        if help_arg:
+        if help_arg == True:
             # just --help with no topic; avoid argparse altogether
             print USAGE
             sys.exit(0)