diff --git a/pmd/etc/changelog.txt b/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
index ad55ff8fac..b3eb4433bd 100644
--- a/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
+++ b/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Fixed bug 1593292 - The CPD GUI now works with the 'by extension' option selecte
 Fixed bug 1560944 - CPD now skips symlinks.
 Fixed bug 1570824 - HTML reports generated on Windows no longer contain double backslashes.  This caused problems when viewing those reports with Apache.
 Fixed bug 1031966 - Re-Implemented CloneMethodMustImplementCloneable as a typeresolution rule. This rule can now detect super classes/interfaces which are cloneable
+Fixed bug 1571309 - Optional command line options may be used either before or after the mandatory arguments
 Applied patch 1551189 - SingularField false + for initialization blocks
 Applied patch 1573981 - false + in CloneMethodMustImplementCloneable
 Applied patch 1574988 - false + in OverrideBothEqualsAndHashcode
diff --git a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptionsTest.java b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptionsTest.java
index 55d4478f20..b8bf9d542b 100644
--- a/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptionsTest.java
+++ b/pmd/regress/test/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptionsTest.java
@@ -45,21 +45,29 @@ public class CommandLineOptionsTest extends TestCase {
         assertEquals("1.5", opt.getTargetJDK());
         opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "format", "ruleset", "-targetjdk", "1.6"});
         assertEquals("1.6", opt.getTargetJDK());
+        opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"-targetjdk", "1.6", "file", "format", "ruleset"});
+        assertEquals("1.6", opt.getTargetJDK());
     }
 
     public void testDebug() {
         CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "format", "basic", "-debug"});
         assertTrue(opt.debugEnabled());
+        opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"-debug", "file", "format", "basic"});
+        assertTrue(opt.debugEnabled());
     }
 
     public void testExcludeMarker() {
         CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "format", "basic", "-excludemarker", "FOOBAR"});
         assertEquals("FOOBAR", opt.getExcludeMarker());
+        opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"-excludemarker", "FOOBAR", "file", "format", "basic"});
+        assertEquals("FOOBAR", opt.getExcludeMarker());
     }
 
     public void testShortNames() {
         CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "format", "basic", "-shortnames"});
         assertTrue(opt.shortNamesEnabled());
+        opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"-shortnames", "file", "format", "basic"});
+        assertTrue(opt.shortNamesEnabled());
     }
 
     public void testEncoding() {
@@ -67,6 +75,8 @@ public class CommandLineOptionsTest extends TestCase {
         assertTrue(opt.getEncoding().equals((new InputStreamReader(System.in)).getEncoding()));
         opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "format", "ruleset", "-encoding", "UTF-8"});
         assertTrue(opt.getEncoding().equals("UTF-8"));
+        opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"-encoding", "UTF-8", "file", "format", "ruleset"});
+        assertTrue(opt.getEncoding().equals("UTF-8"));
     }
 
     public void testInputFileName() {
@@ -111,8 +121,18 @@ public class CommandLineOptionsTest extends TestCase {
     	
         CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "format", "basic", "-reportfile", "foo.txt"});
         assertSame("foo.txt", opt.getReportFile());
+        opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"-reportfile", "foo.txt", "file", "format", "basic"});
+        assertSame("foo.txt", opt.getReportFile());
     }
 
+    public void testCpus() {
+
+		CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[] { "file", "format", "basic", "-cpus", "2" });
+		assertEquals(2, opt.getCpus());
+		opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[] { "-cpus", "2", "file", "format", "basic" });
+		assertEquals(2, opt.getCpus());
+	}
+
     public void testRenderer() {
         CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[]{"file", "xml", "basic"});
         assertTrue(opt.createRenderer() instanceof XMLRenderer);
@@ -143,4 +163,13 @@ public class CommandLineOptionsTest extends TestCase {
             // cool
         }
     }
+    
+    public void testOptionsFirst(){
+		CommandLineOptions opt = new CommandLineOptions(new String[] { "-cpus", "2", "-debug", "file", "format", "basic" });
+		assertEquals(2, opt.getCpus());
+        assertEquals("file", opt.getInputPath());
+        assertEquals("format", opt.getReportFormat());
+        assertEquals("rulesets/basic.xml", opt.getRulesets());
+        assertTrue(opt.debugEnabled());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptions.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptions.java
index e92fb2cec1..0b32ad7891 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptions.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/CommandLineOptions.java
@@ -46,10 +46,14 @@ public class CommandLineOptions {
         if (args == null || args.length < 3) {
             throw new RuntimeException(usage());
         }
+        int optIndex = 0;
+		if (args[0].charAt(0) == '-') {
+			optIndex = args.length - 3;
+		}
 
-        inputPath = args[0];
-        reportFormat = args[1];
-        ruleSets = new SimpleRuleSetNameMapper(args[2]).getRuleSets();
+        inputPath = args[optIndex];
+        reportFormat = args[optIndex+1];
+        ruleSets = new SimpleRuleSetNameMapper(args[optIndex+2]).getRuleSets();
 
         this.args = args;
 
@@ -92,7 +96,6 @@ public class CommandLineOptions {
                 reportFile = args[++i];
             }
         }
-        
     }
 
     public Renderer createRenderer() {
@@ -186,7 +189,7 @@ public class CommandLineOptions {
                 "For example: " + PMD.EOL +
                 "c:\\> java -jar pmd-" + PMD.VERSION + ".jar c:\\my\\source\\code html unusedcode" + PMD.EOL +
                 PMD.EOL +
-                "Optional arguments that may be put after the mandatory arguments are: " + PMD.EOL +
+                "Optional arguments that may be put before or after the mandatory arguments: " + PMD.EOL +
                 "-debug: prints debugging information" + PMD.EOL +
                 "-targetjdk: specifies a language version to target - 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 or 1.6" + PMD.EOL +
                 "-cpus: specifies the number of threads to create" + PMD.EOL +