diff --git a/cli/koji_cli/commands.py b/cli/koji_cli/commands.py
index 0fc0db4b..02d32199 100644
--- a/cli/koji_cli/commands.py
+++ b/cli/koji_cli/commands.py
@@ -963,6 +963,7 @@ def handle_call(goptions, session, args):
     usage = """\
         usage: %prog call [options] <name> [<arg> ...]
 
+        <arg> values of the form NAME=VALUE are treated as keyword arguments
         Note, that you can use global option --noauth for anonymous calls here"""
     usage = textwrap.dedent(usage)
     parser = OptionParser(usage=get_usage_str(usage))
@@ -1016,11 +1017,14 @@ def handle_call(goptions, session, args):
     if options.kwargs:
         kw = parse_arg(options.kwargs)
 
+    kw_pat = re.compile(r'^([^\W0-9]\w*)=(.*)$')
+
     # read the args
     non_kw = []
     for arg in args[1:]:
-        if arg.find('=') != -1:
-            key, value = arg.split('=', 1)
+        m = kw_pat.match(arg)
+        if m:
+            key, value = m.groups()
             kw[key] = parse_arg(value)
         else:
             non_kw.append(parse_arg(arg))
diff --git a/tests/test_cli/test_call.py b/tests/test_cli/test_call.py
index aca2ca37..727fefc2 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli/test_call.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli/test_call.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ class TestCall(utils.CliTestCase):
         self.activate_session_mock = mock.patch('koji_cli.commands.activate_session').start()
         self.error_format = """Usage: %s call [options] <name> [<arg> ...]
 
+<arg> values of the form NAME=VALUE are treated as keyword arguments
 Note, that you can use global option --noauth for anonymous calls here
 (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)
 
@@ -158,6 +159,7 @@ Note, that you can use global option --noauth for anonymous calls here
             handle_call,
             """Usage: %s call [options] <name> [<arg> ...]
 
+<arg> values of the form NAME=VALUE are treated as keyword arguments
 Note, that you can use global option --noauth for anonymous calls here
 (Specify the --help global option for a list of other help options)