diff --git a/src/cli/colors.js b/src/cli/colors.js
index bb4ea2887e..35f30376ae 100644
--- a/src/cli/colors.js
+++ b/src/cli/colors.js
@@ -1,58 +1,25 @@
 'use strict';
 
-
-// override commander functions
+// override commander help formatting functions
 // to include color styling in the output
 // so the CLI looks nice
 
-const { Command } = require('commander');
-
-const commandColor = 'yellow';
-const optionColor = 'cyan';
-const argColor = 'magenta';
-const subCommandColor = 'green';
-const subOptionColor = 'blue';
-const subArgColor = 'red';
-
-Command.prototype.helpInformation = function () {
-	let desc = [];
-	if (this._description) {
-		desc = [
-			`  ${this._description}`,
-			'',
-		];
-	}
-
-	let cmdName = this._name;
-	if (this._alias) {
-		cmdName = `${cmdName} | ${this._alias}`;
-	}
-	const usage = [
-		'',
-		`  Usage: ${cmdName[commandColor]}${' '.reset}${this.usage()}`,
-		'',
-	];
-
-	let cmds = [];
-	const commandHelp = this.commandHelp();
-	if (commandHelp) {
-		cmds = [commandHelp];
-	}
-
-	const options = [
-		'',
-		'  Options:',
-		'',
-		`${this.optionHelp().replace(/^/gm, '    ')}`,
-		'',
-	];
-
-	return usage
-		.concat(desc)
-		.concat(options)
-		.concat(cmds)
-		.join('\n'.reset);
-};
+const { Command, Help } = require('commander');
+
+const colors = [
+	// depth = 0, top-level command
+	{
+		command: 'yellow',
+		option: 'cyan',
+		arg: 'magenta',
+	},
+	// depth = 1, second-level commands
+	{
+		command: 'green',
+		option: 'blue',
+		arg: 'red',
+	},
+];
 
 function humanReadableArgName(arg) {
 	const nameOutput = arg.name + (arg.variadic === true ? '...' : '');
@@ -60,58 +27,119 @@ function humanReadableArgName(arg) {
 	return arg.required ? `<${nameOutput}>` : `[${nameOutput}]`;
 }
 
-Command.prototype.usage = function () {
-	const args = this._args.map(arg => humanReadableArgName(arg));
+// get depth of command
+// 0 = top, 1 = subcommand of top, etc
+Command.prototype.depth = function () {
+	if (this._depth === undefined) {
+		let depth = 0;
+		let { parent } = this;
+		while (parent) { depth += 1; parent = parent.parent; }
 
-	const usage = '[options]'[optionColor] +
-		(this.commands.length ? ' [command]' : '')[subCommandColor] +
-		(this._args.length ? ` ${args.join(' ')}` : '')[argColor];
-
-	return usage;
-};
-
-function pad(str, width) {
-	const len = Math.max(0, width - str.length);
-	return str + Array(len + 1).join(' ');
-}
-
-Command.prototype.commandHelp = function () {
-	if (!this.commands.length) {
-		return '';
+		this._depth = depth;
 	}
-
-	const commands = this.commands.filter(cmd => !cmd._noHelp).map((cmd) => {
-		const args = cmd._args.map(arg => humanReadableArgName(arg)).join(' ');
-
-		return [
-			`${cmd._name[subCommandColor] +
-				(cmd._alias ? ` | ${cmd._alias}` : '')[subCommandColor] +
-				(cmd.options.length ? ' [options]' : '')[subOptionColor]
-			} ${args[subArgColor]}`,
-			cmd._description,
-		];
-	});
-
-	const width = commands.reduce((max, command) => Math.max(max, command[0].length), 0);
-
-	return [
-		'',
-		'  Commands:',
-		'',
-		commands.map((cmd) => {
-			const desc = cmd[1] ? `  ${cmd[1]}` : '';
-			return pad(cmd[0], width) + desc;
-		}).join('\n').replace(/^/gm, '    '),
-		'',
-	].join('\n');
+	return this._depth;
 };
 
-Command.prototype.optionHelp = function () {
-	const width = this.largestOptionLength();
-
-	// Append the help information
-	return this.options
-		.map(option => `${pad(option.flags, width)[optionColor]}  ${option.description}`)
-		.concat([`${pad('-h, --help', width)[optionColor]}  output usage information`])
-		.join('\n');
+module.exports = {
+	commandUsage(cmd) {
+		const depth = cmd.depth();
+
+		// Usage
+		let cmdName = cmd._name;
+		if (cmd._aliases[0]) {
+			cmdName = `${cmdName}|${cmd._aliases[0]}`;
+		}
+		let parentCmdNames = '';
+		let parentCmd = cmd.parent;
+		let parentDepth = depth - 1;
+		while (parentCmd) {
+			parentCmdNames = `${parentCmd.name()[colors[parentDepth].command]} ${parentCmdNames}`;
+
+			parentCmd = parentCmd.parent;
+			parentDepth -= 1;
+		}
+
+		// from Command.prototype.usage()
+		const args = cmd._args.map(arg => humanReadableArgName(arg)[colors[depth].arg]);
+		const cmdUsage = [].concat(
+			(cmd.options.length || cmd._hasHelpOption ? '[options]'[colors[depth].option] : []),
+			(cmd.commands.length ? '[command]'[colors[depth + 1].command] : []),
+			(cmd._args.length ? args : [])
+		).join(' ');
+
+		return `${parentCmdNames}${cmdName[colors[depth].command]} ${cmdUsage}`;
+	},
+	subcommandTerm(cmd) {
+		const depth = cmd.depth();
+
+		// Legacy. Ignores custom usage string, and nested commands.
+		const args = cmd._args.map(arg => humanReadableArgName(arg)).join(' ');
+		return (cmd._name + (
+			cmd._aliases[0] ? `|${cmd._aliases[0]}` : ''
+		))[colors[depth].command] +
+      (cmd.options.length ? ' [options]' : '')[colors[depth].option] + // simplistic check for non-help option
+      (args ? ` ${args}` : '')[colors[depth].arg];
+	},
+	longestOptionTermLength(cmd, helper) {
+		return Help.prototype.longestOptionTermLength.call(this, cmd, helper) + ''.red.length;
+	},
+	longestArgumentTermLength(cmd, helper) {
+		return Help.prototype.longestArgumentTermLength.call(this, cmd, helper) + ''.red.length;
+	},
+	formatHelp(cmd, helper) {
+		const depth = cmd.depth();
+
+		const termWidth = helper.padWidth(cmd, helper);
+		const helpWidth = helper.helpWidth || 80;
+		const itemIndentWidth = 2;
+		const itemSeparatorWidth = 2; // between term and description
+		function formatItem(term, description) {
+			if (description) {
+				const fullText = `${term.padEnd(termWidth + itemSeparatorWidth)}${description}`;
+				return helper.wrap(fullText, helpWidth - itemIndentWidth, termWidth + itemSeparatorWidth);
+			}
+			return term;
+		}
+		function formatList(textArray) {
+			return textArray.join('\n').replace(/^/gm, ' '.repeat(itemIndentWidth));
+		}
+
+		// Usage
+		let output = [`Usage: ${helper.commandUsage(cmd)}`, ''];
+
+		// Description
+		const commandDescription = helper.commandDescription(cmd);
+		if (commandDescription.length > 0) {
+			output = output.concat([commandDescription, '']);
+		}
+
+		// Arguments
+		const argumentList = helper.visibleArguments(cmd).map(argument => formatItem(
+			argument.term[colors[depth].arg],
+			argument.description
+		));
+		if (argumentList.length > 0) {
+			output = output.concat(['Arguments:', formatList(argumentList), '']);
+		}
+
+		// Options
+		const optionList = helper.visibleOptions(cmd).map(option => formatItem(
+			helper.optionTerm(option)[colors[depth].option],
+			helper.optionDescription(option)
+		));
+		if (optionList.length > 0) {
+			output = output.concat(['Options:', formatList(optionList), '']);
+		}
+
+		// Commands
+		const commandList = helper.visibleCommands(cmd).map(cmd => formatItem(
+			helper.subcommandTerm(cmd),
+			helper.subcommandDescription(cmd)
+		));
+		if (commandList.length > 0) {
+			output = output.concat(['Commands:', formatList(commandList), '']);
+		}
+
+		return output.join('\n');
+	},
 };
diff --git a/src/cli/index.js b/src/cli/index.js
index fafc4857ad..e69910cf1f 100644
--- a/src/cli/index.js
+++ b/src/cli/index.js
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ const pkg = require('../../package.json');
 const file = require('../file');
 const prestart = require('../prestart');
 
+program.configureHelp(require('./colors'));
+
 program
 	.name('./nodebb')
 	.description('Welcome to NodeBB')
@@ -305,8 +307,6 @@ program
 		}
 	});
 
-require('./colors');
-
 if (process.argv.length === 2) {
 	program.help();
 }