diff --git a/scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs b/scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs
index b7713d4f2e2..2af9d039fae 100644
--- a/scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs
+++ b/scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
 import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import path from "node:path";
 
+const knownArgKeys = new Set(["report", "output", "lane", "reporturl", "artifacturl"]);
 const rawArgs = process.argv.slice(2);
-if (rawArgs.includes("--help") || rawArgs.includes("-h")) {
+if (shouldPrintHelp(rawArgs)) {
   usage("", 0);
 }
 
@@ -245,18 +246,17 @@ function value(input) {
 
 function parseArgs(argv) {
   const parsed = {};
-  const knownKeys = new Set(["report", "output", "lane", "reporturl", "artifacturl"]);
   for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index += 1) {
     const arg = argv[index];
     if (!arg.startsWith("--")) {
       usage(`unexpected argument: ${arg}`);
     }
     const key = arg.slice(2).replaceAll("-", "");
-    if (!knownKeys.has(key)) {
+    if (!knownArgKeys.has(key)) {
       usage(`unknown argument: ${arg}`);
     }
     const valueLocal = argv[index + 1];
-    if (!valueLocal || valueLocal.startsWith("--")) {
+    if (!valueLocal || valueLocal.startsWith("-")) {
       usage(`${arg} requires a value`);
     }
     parsed[key] = valueLocal;
@@ -271,6 +271,28 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
   };
 }
 
+function shouldPrintHelp(argv) {
+  for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index += 1) {
+    const arg = argv[index];
+    if (arg === "--help" || arg === "-h") {
+      return true;
+    }
+    if (!arg.startsWith("--")) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    const key = arg.slice(2).replaceAll("-", "");
+    if (!knownArgKeys.has(key)) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    const optionValue = argv[index + 1];
+    if (!optionValue || optionValue.startsWith("-")) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    index += 1;
+  }
+  return false;
+}
+
 function usage(message, status = 2) {
   const text =
     "usage: node scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs --report <report.json> [--output <summary.md>] [--lane <name>] [--report-url <url>] [--artifact-url <url>]\n";
diff --git a/test/scripts/kova-ci-summary.test.ts b/test/scripts/kova-ci-summary.test.ts
index 348fffbee09..538118eee7b 100644
--- a/test/scripts/kova-ci-summary.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/kova-ci-summary.test.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,20 @@ describe("scripts/kova-ci-summary", () => {
     expect(result.stdout).toContain("usage: node scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs --report");
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    ["flag-shaped value", ["--report", "-h"]],
+    ["option separator before help", ["--report", "--", "--help"]],
+  ])("rejects %s before help handling", (_name, args) => {
+    const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, ["scripts/kova-ci-summary.mjs", ...args], {
+      cwd: process.cwd(),
+      encoding: "utf8",
+    });
+
+    expect(result.status).toBe(2);
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
+    expect(result.stderr).toContain("error: --report requires a value");
+  });
+
   it("rejects empty Kova reports instead of rendering unknown summaries", () => {
     const empty = runSummary({});
     expect(empty.result.status).toBe(1);