diff --git a/solc/CommandLineParser.cpp b/solc/CommandLineParser.cpp
index 220f0e393..dbfb46756 100644
--- a/solc/CommandLineParser.cpp
+++ b/solc/CommandLineParser.cpp
@@ -323,6 +323,16 @@ OptimiserSettings CommandLineOptions::optimiserSettings() const
 	return settings;
 }
 
+bool CommandLineParser::parse(int _argc, char const* const* _argv, bool _interactiveTerminal)
+{
+	m_hasOutput = false;
+
+	if (!parseArgs(_argc, _argv, _interactiveTerminal))
+		return false;
+
+	return processArgs();
+}
+
 bool CommandLineParser::parseInputPathsAndRemappings()
 {
 	m_options.input.ignoreMissingFiles = (m_args.count(g_strIgnoreMissingFiles) > 0);
@@ -478,10 +488,8 @@ bool CommandLineParser::parseLibraryOption(string const& _input)
 	return true;
 }
 
-bool CommandLineParser::parse(int _argc, char const* const* _argv, bool interactiveTerminal)
+po::options_description CommandLineParser::optionsDescription()
 {
-	m_hasOutput = false;
-
 	// Declare the supported options.
 	po::options_description desc((R"(solc, the Solidity commandline compiler.
 
@@ -780,12 +788,22 @@ General Information)").c_str(),
 	;
 	desc.add(smtCheckerOptions);
 
-	po::options_description allOptions = desc;
-	allOptions.add_options()(g_strInputFile.c_str(), po::value<vector<string>>(), "input file");
+	desc.add_options()(g_strInputFile.c_str(), po::value<vector<string>>(), "input file");
+	return desc;
+}
 
+po::positional_options_description CommandLineParser::positionalOptionsDescription()
+{
 	// All positional options should be interpreted as input files
 	po::positional_options_description filesPositions;
 	filesPositions.add(g_strInputFile.c_str(), -1);
+	return filesPositions;
+}
+
+bool CommandLineParser::parseArgs(int _argc, char const* const* _argv, bool _interactiveTerminal)
+{
+	po::options_description allOptions = optionsDescription();
+	po::positional_options_description filesPositions = positionalOptionsDescription();
 
 	// parse the compiler arguments
 	try
@@ -801,6 +819,25 @@ General Information)").c_str(),
 		return false;
 	}
 
+	if (m_args.count(g_strHelp) || (_interactiveTerminal && _argc == 1))
+	{
+		sout() << allOptions;
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	if (m_args.count(g_strVersion))
+		printVersionAndExit();
+
+	if (m_args.count(g_strLicense))
+		printLicenseAndExit();
+
+	po::notify(m_args);
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+bool CommandLineParser::processArgs()
+{
 	if (!checkMutuallyExclusive({g_strColor, g_strNoColor}))
 		return false;
 
@@ -826,18 +863,6 @@ General Information)").c_str(),
 
 	m_options.formatting.withErrorIds = m_args.count(g_strErrorIds);
 
-	if (m_args.count(g_strHelp) || (interactiveTerminal && _argc == 1))
-	{
-		sout() << desc;
-		return false;
-	}
-
-	if (m_args.count(g_strVersion))
-		printVersionAndExit();
-
-	if (m_args.count(g_strLicense))
-		printLicenseAndExit();
-
 	if (m_args.count(g_strRevertStrings))
 	{
 		string revertStringsString = m_args[g_strRevertStrings].as<string>();
@@ -895,8 +920,6 @@ General Information)").c_str(),
 
 	m_options.compiler.estimateGas = (m_args.count(g_strGas) > 0);
 
-	po::notify(m_args);
-
 	if (m_args.count(g_strBasePath))
 		m_options.input.basePath = m_args[g_strBasePath].as<string>();
 
diff --git a/solc/CommandLineParser.h b/solc/CommandLineParser.h
index ac80f6f0d..41aaab71b 100644
--- a/solc/CommandLineParser.h
+++ b/solc/CommandLineParser.h
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ public:
 	/// CommandLineOptions structure has been fully initialized. false if there were errors - in
 	/// this case CommandLineOptions may be only partially filled out. May also return false if
 	/// there is not further processing necessary and the program should just exit.
-	bool parse(int _argc, char const* const* _argv, bool interactiveTerminal);
+	bool parse(int _argc, char const* const* _argv, bool _interactiveTerminal);
 
 	CommandLineOptions const& options() const { return m_options; }
 
@@ -203,6 +203,24 @@ public:
 	bool hasOutput() const { return m_hasOutput; }
 
 private:
+	/// @returns a specification of all named command-line options accepted by the compiler.
+	/// The object can be used to parse command-line arguments or to generate the help screen.
+	static boost::program_options::options_description optionsDescription();
+
+	/// @returns a specification of all positional command-line arguments accepted by the compiler.
+	/// The object can be used to parse command-line arguments or to generate the help screen.
+	static boost::program_options::positional_options_description positionalOptionsDescription();
+
+	/// Uses boost::program_options to parse the command-line arguments and leaves the result in @a m_args.
+	/// Also handles the arguments that result in information being printed followed by immediate exit.
+	/// @returns false if parsing fails due to syntactical errors or the arguments not matching the description.
+	bool parseArgs(int _argc, char const* const* _argv, bool _interactiveTerminal);
+
+	/// Validates parsed arguments stored in @a m_args and fills out the internal CommandLineOptions
+	/// structure.
+	/// @return false if there are any validation errors, true otherwise.
+	bool processArgs();
+
 	/// Parses the value supplied to --combined-json.
 	/// @return false if there are any validation errors, true otherwise.
 	bool parseCombinedJsonOption();