diff --git a/builtin/push.c b/builtin/push.c
index 1c28427d82..ef4032a9ef 100644
--- a/builtin/push.c
+++ b/builtin/push.c
@@ -542,9 +542,9 @@ int cmd_push(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		OPT_BIT( 0,  "porcelain", &flags, N_("machine-readable output"), TRANSPORT_PUSH_PORCELAIN),
 		OPT_BIT('f', "force", &flags, N_("force updates"), TRANSPORT_PUSH_FORCE),
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK,
-		  0, CAS_OPT_NAME, &cas, N_("refname>:<expect"),
+		  0, CAS_OPT_NAME, &cas, N_("<refname>:<expect>"),
 		  N_("require old value of ref to be at this value"),
-		  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, parseopt_push_cas_option },
+		  PARSE_OPT_OPTARG | PARSE_OPT_LITERAL_ARGHELP, parseopt_push_cas_option },
 		{ OPTION_CALLBACK, 0, "recurse-submodules", &recurse_submodules, "check|on-demand|no",
 			N_("control recursive pushing of submodules"),
 			PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, option_parse_recurse_submodules },