diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/DateCommands.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/DateCommands.java
index 10d76849..568ff2e4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/DateCommands.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/commands/DateCommands.java
@@ -25,15 +25,14 @@ import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
 
 /**
  * Commands related to the dates
- *
+ * 
  */
 @Component
-public class DateCommands implements CommandMarker { 
-	
+public class DateCommands implements CommandMarker {
+
 	@CliCommand(value = { "date" }, help = "Displays the local date and time")
 	public String date() {
-		return DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL,Locale.US)
-				.format(new Date());
+		return DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.FULL, DateFormat.FULL, Locale.US).format(new Date());
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Tokenizer.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Tokenizer.java
index 5cabe74a..fe38ba41 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Tokenizer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/shell/core/Tokenizer.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public class Tokenizer {
 			eatKeyEqualsValue();
 		}
 		else {
-			String value = eatValue();
+			String value = eatValue(true);
 			store("", value);
 		}
 
@@ -128,8 +128,9 @@ public class Tokenizer {
 
 	/**
 	 * Eat a value that may be enclosed in some delimiters.
+	 * @param emptyKey if true, we're currently reading the value for the empty key
 	 */
-	private String eatValue() {
+	private String eatValue(boolean emptyKey) {
 		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
 		char endDelimiter = ' ';
 		if (buffer[pos] == '"') {
@@ -148,6 +149,20 @@ public class Tokenizer {
 			sb.append(buffer[pos]);
 			pos++;
 		}
+		// If we're grabbing the key-less value, allow additional chunks, as long as
+		// 1) we don't hit '--'
+		// 2) we were not using a quote delimited value
+		if (emptyKey && endDelimiter == ' ') {
+			while (!lookAhead('-', '-') && pos < buffer.length) {
+				sb.append(buffer[pos++]);
+			}
+			// Trim to the right
+			while (Character.isWhitespace(sb.charAt(sb.length() - 1))) {
+				sb.setLength(sb.length() - 1);
+			}
+			return sb.toString();
+		}
+
 		// When here, we either ran out of input, or encountered our delim, or both
 		// Fail, unless we allow an unfinished quoted string to be reported
 		if (endDelimiter == '"' && // we're using quotes
@@ -226,7 +241,7 @@ public class Tokenizer {
 			value = "";
 		}
 		else {
-			value = eatValue();
+			value = eatValue(false);
 		}
 		// Don't store the ""="" that would result from having a pending " --" at the end
 		if (key.equals("") && value.equals("")) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/core/TokenizerTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/core/TokenizerTests.java
index 3c0bb7fc..1a4c227c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/core/TokenizerTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/shell/core/TokenizerTests.java
@@ -18,7 +18,10 @@ package org.springframework.shell.core;
 
 import static java.util.Collections.emptyMap;
 import static java.util.Collections.singletonMap;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -80,9 +83,22 @@ public class TokenizerTests {
 		tokenize("--foo bar --foo buzz");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testAllowTwoOptionsSameEmptyKeyIfNextToEachOther() {
+		Map<String, String> result = tokenize("bar buzz");
+		assertThat(result.keySet(), hasSize(1));
+		assertThat(result.get(""), equalTo("bar buzz"));
+
+		result = tokenize("--foo wizz bar buzz --woot cool");
+		assertThat(result.keySet(), hasSize(3));
+		assertThat(result.get(""), equalTo("bar buzz"));
+		assertThat(result.get("foo"), equalTo("wizz"));
+		assertThat(result.get("woot"), equalTo("cool"));
+	}
+
 	@Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
-	public void testTwoOptionsSameEmptyKey() {
-		tokenize("bar buzz");
+	public void testDisallowTwoOptionsSameEmptyKeyIfNotNextToEachOther() {
+		tokenize("bar --foo wizz buzz");
 	}
 
 	@Test