diff --git a/frontend/lb b/frontend/lb
index 137867be2..1d8b89ab6 100755
--- a/frontend/lb
+++ b/frontend/lb
@@ -19,25 +19,14 @@ DESCRIPTION="Utility to build live systems"
 HELP=""
 USAGE="lb {clean|config|build}"
 
-case "${1}" in
-	-h|--help)
-		if [ $(which man) ]; then
-			man lb
-		else
-			Usage
-		fi
-		exit 0
-		;;
+# Handle options up to any command
+# We replace the arg set with any remaining args on return
+Arguments frontend "${@}"
+eval set -- "${REMAINING_ARGS}"
 
-	""|-u|--usage)
-		Usage
-		;;
-
-	-v|--version)
-		echo "${VERSION}"
-		exit 0
-		;;
-esac
+if [ -z "${1}" ]; then
+	Usage
+fi
 
 COMMAND="${1}"
 shift
diff --git a/functions/arguments.sh b/functions/arguments.sh
index 4f6105649..a8dd33251 100755
--- a/functions/arguments.sh
+++ b/functions/arguments.sh
@@ -11,23 +11,84 @@
 
 Arguments ()
 {
+	# This function is used for handling arguments both at the frontend (`lb`)
+	# level and at the command level, since both accept almost the same basic
+	# argument set, with little difference in response to them.
+	#
+	# We enlist the help of getopt here which takes care of some of the
+	# intricacies of parsing for us. Note that getopt does not itself
+	# understand the concept of "command" arguments, and the behaviour of it
+	# shuffling non-options (those arguments that are not options or option
+	# values) to the end of the argument list would present a difficulty, if it
+	# were not for the fact that you can control this behaviour with use of the
+	# `POSIXLY_CORRECT` environment variable; setting this variable causes
+	# getopt to stop parsing arguments once it encounters the first non-option,
+	# treating all remaining arguments as being non-options. Note also that
+	# getopt always outputs a `--` separator argument between option (including
+	# option value) arguments and non-option arguments.
+	#
+	# At the frontend we need getopt to only parse options up to the point of
+	# a command. A command as far as getopt is concerned is simply a
+	# "non-option" argument. Using the above mentioned `POSIXLY_CORRECT`
+	# environment variable when parsing for the frontend, we can thus have
+	# getopt process options up to the first non-option, if given, which should
+	# be our command. We can then pass back any remaining arguments including
+	# the command argument, for a second command-stage handling. If no command
+	# is given, this is trivial to handle. If an invalid option is used before
+	# a command, this is caught by getopt.
+	#
+	# When a command is run, it is passed all remaining arguments, with most
+	# scripts then passing them to this function, with argument parsing then
+	# occurring in command-context, which just so happens to use almost the same
+	# set of arguments for most scripts (the config command is a notable
+	# exception).
+	#
+	# It is true that many of the common options have no effect in the frontend
+	# currently, but some do, such as colour control, and others could do in
+	# future or during development.
+	#
+	# Note, do not worry about options unavailable in frontend mode being
+	# handled in the case statement, they will never reach there if used for the
+	# frontend (i.e. before a command), they will result in an invalid option
+	# error!
+
+	local LONGOPTS="breakpoints,color,debug,help,no-color,quiet,usage,verbose,version"
+	local SHORTOPTS="huv"
+
+	local IS_FRONTEND="false"
+	if [ "${1}" = "frontend" ]; then
+		shift
+		IS_FRONTEND="true"
+	else
+		LONGOPTS="${LONGOPTS},force"
+	fi
+
+	local GETOPT_ARGS="--name=${PROGRAM} --shell sh --longoptions $LONGOPTS --options $SHORTOPTS"
+
 	local ARGUMENTS
 	local ERR=0
-	ARGUMENTS="$(getopt --longoptions breakpoints,color,debug,force,help,no-color,quiet,usage,verbose,version --name=${PROGRAM} --options huv --shell sh -- "${@}")" || ERR=$?
+	if [ "${IS_FRONTEND}" = "true" ]; then
+		ARGUMENTS="$(export POSIXLY_CORRECT=1; getopt $GETOPT_ARGS -- "${@}")" || ERR=$?
+	else
+		ARGUMENTS="$(getopt $GETOPT_ARGS -- "${@}")" || ERR=$?
+	fi
 
 	if [ $ERR -eq 1 ]; then
-		Echo_error "invalid arguments"
+		Echo_error "Invalid argument(s)"
 		exit 1
 	elif [ $ERR -ne 0 ]; then
 		Echo_error "getopt failure"
 		exit 1
 	fi
 
+	# Replace arguments with result of getopt processing (e.g. with non-options shuffled to end)
+	# Note that this only affects this function's parameter set, not the calling function's or
+	# calling script's argument set.
 	eval set -- "${ARGUMENTS}"
 
-	while true
-	do
-		case "${1}" in
+	local ARG
+	for ARG in "$@"; do
+		case "${ARG}" in
 			--breakpoints)
 				_BREAKPOINTS="true"
 				shift
@@ -58,8 +119,16 @@ Arguments ()
 				;;
 
 			-h|--help)
-				Man
-				shift
+				if [ $(which man) ]; then
+					if [ "${IS_FRONTEND}" = "true" ]; then
+						man ${PROGRAM}
+					else
+						man ${PROGRAM} $(basename ${0})
+					fi
+					exit 0
+				elif [ "${IS_FRONTEND}" = "true" ]; then
+					Usage
+				fi
 				;;
 
 			--quiet)
@@ -88,9 +157,17 @@ Arguments ()
 				;;
 
 			*)
-				Echo_error "internal error %s" "${0}"
+				if [ "${IS_FRONTEND}" = "true" ]; then
+					# We have handled all frontend options up to what we assume to be a command
+					break
+				fi
+				Echo_error "Internal error, unhandled option: %s" "${ARG}"
 				exit 1
 				;;
 		esac
 	done
+
+	# Return remaining args
+	# Much more simple than trying to deal with command substitution.
+	REMAINING_ARGS="$@"
 }
diff --git a/functions/init.sh b/functions/init.sh
index 1fbbd9308..c9927492e 100755
--- a/functions/init.sh
+++ b/functions/init.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,14 @@ Auto_build_config ()
 
 Init_config_data ()
 {
+	# Here we ignore the consumption of option arguments, we would have to return REMAINING_ARGS
+	# for use in a `set -- $REMAINING_ARGS` (or `eval set -- "$REMAINING_ARGS"`) if we wanted to
+	# remove them from the set of args for calling scripts to make use of, in which case we might
+	# as well just move use of the function out of here. Note that currently scripts taking args
+	# like `$_PASS` do so as the first arg to the script, thus then just ignore any following
+	# option args (and capture them before arg processing takes place).
 	Arguments "${@}"
+	unset REMAINING_ARGS
 
 	Read_conffiles $(Common_config_files)
 	Prepare_config
diff --git a/functions/man.sh b/functions/man.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 06b51a7d4..000000000
--- a/functions/man.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,19 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-
-## live-build(7) - System Build Scripts
-## Copyright (C) 2016-2020 The Debian Live team
-## Copyright (C) 2006-2015 Daniel Baumann <mail@daniel-baumann.ch>
-##
-## This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details see COPYING.
-## This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
-## under certain conditions; see COPYING for details.
-
-
-Man ()
-{
-	if [ $(which man) ]
-	then
-		man ${PROGRAM} $(basename ${0})
-		exit 0
-	fi
-}
diff --git a/scripts/build/config b/scripts/build/config
index 05239eae6..9805e2af0 100755
--- a/scripts/build/config
+++ b/scripts/build/config
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ Local_arguments ()
 	ARGUMENTS="$(getopt --longoptions ${LONG_OPTIONS} --name="${PROGRAM}" --options a:d:m:k:b:s:c:huv --shell sh -- "${@}")" || ERR=$?
 
 	if [ $ERR -eq 1 ]; then
-		Echo_error "invalid arguments"
+		Echo_error "Invalid argument(s)"
 		exit 1
 	elif [ $ERR -ne 0 ]; then
 		Echo_error "getopt failure"