diff --git a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/OakUpgrade.java b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/OakUpgrade.java
index 4405555..1f46af4 100644
--- a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/OakUpgrade.java
+++ b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/OakUpgrade.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public class OakUpgrade {
         OptionSet options = OptionParserFactory.create().parse(args);
         try {
             MigrationCliArguments cliArguments = new MigrationCliArguments(options);
-            if (cliArguments.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.HELP) || cliArguments.getArguments().isEmpty()) {
+            if (cliArguments.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.HELP) || cliArguments.getArguments().isEmpty()) {
                 CliUtils.displayUsage();
                 return;
             }
diff --git a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationCliArguments.java b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationCliArguments.java
index d98af5a..3ee528d 100644
--- a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationCliArguments.java
+++ b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationCliArguments.java
@@ -40,6 +40,19 @@ public final class MigrationCliArguments {
         return args;
     }
 
+    public boolean hasFlag(String optionName) {
+        if (options.has(optionName)) {
+            Object value = options.valueOf(optionName);
+            if (value == null) {
+                return true;
+            } else {
+                return Boolean.parseBoolean((String) value);
+            }
+        } else {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
     public boolean hasOption(String optionName) {
         return options.has(optionName);
     }
diff --git a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptions.java b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptions.java
index 48240df..2f688e1 100644
--- a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptions.java
+++ b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptions.java
@@ -90,9 +90,9 @@ public class MigrationOptions {
     private final Boolean srcExternalBlobs;
 
     public MigrationOptions(MigrationCliArguments args) {
-        this.disableMmap = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.DISABLE_MMAP);
-        this.copyBinaries = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.COPY_BINARIES);
-        if (args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.CACHE_SIZE)) {
+        this.disableMmap = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.DISABLE_MMAP);
+        this.copyBinaries = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.COPY_BINARIES);
+        if (args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.CACHE_SIZE)) {
             this.cacheSizeInMB = args.getIntOption(OptionParserFactory.CACHE_SIZE);
         } else {
             this.cacheSizeInMB = 256;
@@ -113,14 +113,14 @@ public class MigrationOptions {
         this.includePaths = args.getOptionList(OptionParserFactory.INCLUDE_PATHS);
         this.excludePaths = args.getOptionList(OptionParserFactory.EXCLUDE_PATHS);
         this.mergePaths = args.getOptionList(OptionParserFactory.MERGE_PATHS);
-        this.includeIndex = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.INCLUDE_INDEX);
-        this.failOnError = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.FAIL_ON_ERROR);
-        this.earlyShutdown = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.EARLY_SHUTDOWN);
-        this.skipInitialization = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.SKIP_INIT);
-        this.skipNameCheck = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.SKIP_NAME_CHECK);
-        this.ignoreMissingBinaries = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.IGNORE_MISSING_BINARIES);
-        this.verify = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.VERIFY);
-        this.onlyVerify = args.hasOption(OptionParserFactory.ONLY_VERIFY);
+        this.includeIndex = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.INCLUDE_INDEX);
+        this.failOnError = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.FAIL_ON_ERROR);
+        this.earlyShutdown = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.EARLY_SHUTDOWN);
+        this.skipInitialization = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.SKIP_INIT);
+        this.skipNameCheck = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.SKIP_NAME_CHECK);
+        this.ignoreMissingBinaries = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.IGNORE_MISSING_BINARIES);
+        this.verify = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.VERIFY);
+        this.onlyVerify = args.hasFlag(OptionParserFactory.ONLY_VERIFY);
 
         this.srcUser = args.getOption(OptionParserFactory.SRC_USER);
         this.srcPassword = args.getOption(OptionParserFactory.SRC_USER);
diff --git a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/OptionParserFactory.java b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/OptionParserFactory.java
index 35bdda3..e31ad7e 100644
--- a/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/OptionParserFactory.java
+++ b/oak-upgrade/src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/OptionParserFactory.java
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public class OptionParserFactory {
     }
 
     private static void addBlobOptions(OptionParser op) {
-        op.accepts(COPY_BINARIES, "Copy binary content. Use this to disable use of existing DataStore in new repo");
+        op.accepts(COPY_BINARIES, "Copy binary content. Use this to disable use of existing DataStore in new repo").withOptionalArg().ofType(Boolean.class);
         op.accepts(SRC_FDS, "Datastore directory to be used as a source FileDataStore").withRequiredArg()
                 .ofType(String.class);
         op.accepts(SRC_FBS, "Datastore directory to be used as a source FileBlobStore").withRequiredArg()
diff --git a/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptionsTest.java b/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptionsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0dc632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/oak-upgrade/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/upgrade/cli/parser/MigrationOptionsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package org.apache.jackrabbit.oak.upgrade.cli.parser;
+
+import joptsimple.OptionSet;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+public class MigrationOptionsTest {
+
+    public MigrationOptions getOptions(String... args) throws CliArgumentException {
+        OptionSet options = OptionParserFactory.create().parse(args);
+        MigrationCliArguments cliArguments = new MigrationCliArguments(options);
+        return new MigrationOptions(cliArguments);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testFlags() throws CliArgumentException {
+        assertTrue(getOptions("--copy-binaries").isCopyBinaries());
+        assertTrue(getOptions("--copy-binaries=true").isCopyBinaries());
+        assertFalse(getOptions().isCopyBinaries());
+        assertFalse(getOptions("--copy-binaries=false").isCopyBinaries());
+    }
+
+}