diff --git a/bilby/core/utils.py b/bilby/core/utils.py
index bf88828d96b1093bed952e6f30017d19e1843e8a..e68df6392625df6cf40c282cad6da35913c1add8 100644
--- a/bilby/core/utils.py
+++ b/bilby/core/utils.py
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ def set_up_command_line_arguments():
     """
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
         description="Command line interface for bilby scripts",
-        add_help=False)
+        add_help=False, allow_abbrev=False)
     parser.add_argument("-v", "--verbose", action="store_true",
                         help=("Increase output verbosity [logging.DEBUG]." +
                               " Overridden by script level settings"))