diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 49efb7b7..6c7f86d4 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 2010-08-04  Ralf Wildenhues  <Ralf.Wildenhues@gmx.de>
 
+	Avoid syntax error due to shift of nonexistent parameter.
+	* libltdl/config/ltmain.m4sh <command-line handling>: Only shift
+	if there is a positional parameter to shift.  Fixes `libtool
+	--help' when dash is used.
+	Report by Rainer Tammer.
+
 	Fix testsuite errors due to shell quoted parameter expansion issue.
 	* tests/getopt-m4sh.at (_LT_AT_GETOPT_M4SH_SETUP): Insert space
 	between double-quoted and unquoted shell parameter, as bash
diff --git a/libltdl/config/ltmain.m4sh b/libltdl/config/ltmain.m4sh
index 193ff1a4..98c0a27e 100644
--- a/libltdl/config/ltmain.m4sh
+++ b/libltdl/config/ltmain.m4sh
@@ -387,7 +387,10 @@ M4SH_GETOPTS(
 	func_enable_tag "$optarg"],
 [
   # save first non-option argument
-  nonopt="$opt"; shift
+  if test "$[]#" -gt 0; then
+    nonopt="$opt"
+    shift
+  fi
 
   # preserve --debug
   $opt_debug && func_append preserve_args " --debug"