diff --git a/INTEROP.md b/INTEROP.md
index 364209ec0bb..8b307d8b83d 100644
--- a/INTEROP.md
+++ b/INTEROP.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ Build the dependencies and the compiler (see `README.md`).
 Prepare stubs for the system sockets library:
 
     cd samples/socket
-    ../../dist/bin/cinterop -def:sockets.def -o:sockets.kt.bc
+    ../../dist/bin/cinterop -def sockets.def -o sockets.kt.bc
 
 Compile the echo server:
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Structurally it's a simple property file, looking like this:
 Then run `cinterop` tool with something like (note that for host libraries not included
 in sysroot search paths for headers may be needed):
 
-    cinterop -def:zlib.def -copt:-I/opt/local/include -o:zlib.kt.bc
+    cinterop -def zlib.def -copt -I/opt/local/include -o zlib.kt.bc
 
 This command will produce `zlib.kt.bc` compiled library and
 `zlib.kt.bc-build/kotlin` directory containing Kotlin source code for the library.
diff --git a/Interop/StubGenerator/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/native/interop/gen/jvm/main.kt b/Interop/StubGenerator/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/native/interop/gen/jvm/main.kt
index 675c6b8777e..c082af39db6 100644
--- a/Interop/StubGenerator/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/native/interop/gen/jvm/main.kt
+++ b/Interop/StubGenerator/src/main/kotlin/org/jetbrains/kotlin/native/interop/gen/jvm/main.kt
@@ -34,7 +34,23 @@ fun main(args: Array<String>) {
             "os" to (System.getenv("TARGET_OS") ?: detectHost())
     )
 
-    processLib(konanHome, substitutions, args.asList())
+    processLib(konanHome, substitutions, parseArgs(args))
+}
+
+private fun parseArgs(args: Array<String>): Map<String, List<String>> {
+    val commandLine = mutableMapOf<String, MutableList<String>>()
+    for(index in 0..args.size-1 step 2) {
+        val key = args[index]
+        if (key[0] != '-') {
+            throw IllegalArgumentException("Expected a flag with initial dash: $key")
+        }
+        if (index+1 == args.size) {
+            throw IllegalArgumentException("Expected an value after $key")
+        }
+        val value = args[index+1]
+        commandLine[key] ?. add(value) ?: commandLine.put(key, mutableListOf(value))
+    }
+    return commandLine
 }
 
 private fun detectHost(): String {
@@ -53,6 +69,7 @@ private fun detectHost(): String {
 private fun defaultTarget() = detectHost()
 
 private val knownTargets = mapOf(
+    "host" to defaultTarget(),
     "linux" to "linux",
     "macbook" to "osx",
     "iphone" to "osx-ios",
@@ -83,24 +100,6 @@ private fun substitute(properties: Properties, substitutions: Map<String, String
     }
 }
 
-private fun getArgPrefix(arg: String): String {
-    val index = arg.indexOf(':')
-    if (index == -1) {
-        return ""
-    } else {
-        return arg.substring(0, index)
-    }
-}
-
-private fun dropPrefix(arg: String): String {
-    val index = arg.indexOf(':')
-    if (index == -1) {
-        return ""
-    } else {
-        return arg.substring(index + 1)
-    }
-}
-
 private fun ProcessBuilder.runExpectingSuccess() {
     val res = this.start().waitFor()
     if (res != 0) {
@@ -257,23 +256,21 @@ private fun loadProperties(file: File?, substitutions: Map<String, String>): Pro
 
 private fun usage() {
     println("""
-Run interop tool with -def:<def_file_for_lib>.def
+Run interop tool with -def <def_file_for_lib>.def
 Following flags are supported:
-  -def:<file>.def specifies library definition file
-  -copt:<c compiler flags> specifies flags passed to clang
-  -lopt:<linker flags> specifies flags passed to linker
-  -verbose increases verbosity
-  -shims adds generation of shims tracing native library calls
-  -pkg:<fully qualified package name>
-  -h:<file>.h header files to parse
+  -def <file>.def specifies library definition file
+  -copt <c compiler flags> specifies flags passed to clang
+  -lopt <linker flags> specifies flags passed to linker
+  -verbose <boolean> increases verbosity
+  -shims <boolean> adds generation of shims tracing native library calls
+  -pkg <fully qualified package name> place the resulting definitions into the package
+  -h <file>.h header files to parse
 """)
 }
 
 private fun processLib(konanHome: String,
                        substitutions: Map<String, String>,
-                       commandArgs: List<String>) {
-
-    val args = commandArgs.groupBy ({ getArgPrefix(it) }, { dropPrefix(it) }) // TODO
+                       args: Map<String, List<String>>) {
 
     val userDir = System.getProperty("user.dir")
     val ktGenRoot = args["-generated"]?.single() ?: userDir
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 51bf0d10338..40f37b04208 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -39,6 +39,6 @@ For some tests, use:
 To generate interoperability stubs create library definition file
 (take a look on `samples/tetris/tetris.sdl`) and run `cinterop` tool like this:
 
-    cinterop -def:lib.def
+    cinterop -def lib.def
 
-See provided samples and `INTEROP.md` for more details.
\ No newline at end of file
+See provided samples and `INTEROP.md` for more details.
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/jetbrains/kotlin/NativeInteropPlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/jetbrains/kotlin/NativeInteropPlugin.groovy
index ef53a361e13..b6627822b3e 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/jetbrains/kotlin/NativeInteropPlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/jetbrains/kotlin/NativeInteropPlugin.groovy
@@ -206,42 +206,42 @@ class NamedNativeInteropConfig implements Named {
 
                 linkerOpts += linkFiles.files
 
-                args "-properties:" + project.findProject(":backend.native").file("konan.properties")
-                args "-generated:" + generatedSrcDir
-                args "-natives:" + nativeLibsDir
-                args "-flavor:" + this.flavor
+                args '-properties', project.findProject(":backend.native").file("konan.properties")
+                args '-generated', generatedSrcDir
+                args '-natives', nativeLibsDir
+                args '-flavor', this.flavor
                 // Uncomment to debug.
-                // args "-verbose:true"
+                // args '-verbose', 'true'
 
                 if (defFile != null) {
-                    args "-def:" + project.file(defFile)
+                    args '-def', project.file(defFile)
                 }
 
                 if (pkg != null) {
-                    args "-pkg:" + pkg
+                    args '-pkg', pkg
                 }
 
                 if (linker != null) {
-                    args "-linker:" + linker
+                    args '-linker', linker
                 }
 
                 if (target != null) {
-                    args "-target:" + target
+                    args '-target', target
                 }
 
                 // TODO: the interop plugin should probably be reworked to execute clang from build scripts directly
                 environment['PATH'] = project.files(project.clangPath).asPath +
                         File.pathSeparator + environment['PATH']
 
-                args compilerOpts.collect { "-copt:$it" }
-                args linkerOpts.collect { "-lopt:$it" }
+                args compilerOpts.collectMany { ['-copt', it] }
+                args linkerOpts.collectMany { ['-lopt', it] }
 
                 headers.each {
-                    args "-h:$it"
+                    args '-h', it
                 }
 
-                if (project.hasProperty("shims")) {
-                    args  "-shims:$project.ext.shims"
+                if (project.hasProperty('shims')) {
+                    args '-shims', project.ext.shims
                 }
 
             }
diff --git a/cmd/cinterop b/cmd/cinterop
index d48bd2ea1bd..d0e472f7f52 100644
--- a/cmd/cinterop
+++ b/cmd/cinterop
@@ -37,13 +37,13 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
       java_args=("${java_args[@]}" "${1:2}")
       shift
       ;;
-    -o:*)
-      OUTPUT_FILE_NAME="${1:3}"
-      shift
+    -o)
+      OUTPUT_FILE_NAME="$2"
+      shift 2
       ;;
-    -target:*)
-      TARGET="${1:8}"
-      shift
+    -target)
+      TARGET="$2"
+      shift 2
       ;;
      *)
       interop_args=("${interop_args[@]}" "$1")
@@ -76,22 +76,22 @@ HELPERS_JAR="${KONAN_HOME}/konan/lib/helpers.jar"
 INTEROP_CLASSPATH="$STUB_GENERATOR_JAR:$KOTLIN_JAR:$INTEROP_INDEXER_JAR:$INTEROP_RUNTIME_JAR:$HELPERS_JAR"
 INTEROP_TOOL=org.jetbrains.kotlin.native.interop.gen.jvm.MainKt
 
-FLAVOR_ARG=-flavor:native
+FLAVOR_ARG="-flavor native"
 
 GENERATED_DIR="$OUTPUT_FILE_NAME-build/kotlin"
-GENERATED_ARG="-generated:$GENERATED_DIR"
+GENERATED_ARG="-generated $GENERATED_DIR"
 NATIVES_DIR="$OUTPUT_FILE_NAME-build/natives"
-NATIVES_ARG="-natives:$NATIVES_DIR"
+NATIVES_ARG="-natives $NATIVES_DIR"
 CSTUBSNAME=cstubs
-CSTUBSNAME_ARG="-cstubsname:$CSTUBSNAME"
+CSTUBSNAME_ARG="-cstubsname $CSTUBSNAME"
 
 LIBCLANG_DISABLE_CRASH_RECOVERY=1 \
 LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${NATIVE_LIB} \
 $JAVACMD $JAVA_OPTS ${java_args[@]} \
     -cp $INTEROP_CLASSPATH \
     $INTEROP_TOOL \
-    "$GENERATED_ARG" "$NATIVES_ARG" "$CSTUBSNAME_ARG" \
-    $FLAVOR_ARG -target:$TARGET "${interop_args[@]}" \
+    $GENERATED_ARG $NATIVES_ARG $CSTUBSNAME_ARG \
+    $FLAVOR_ARG -target $TARGET "${interop_args[@]}" \
     || exit 1
 
 # Stubs may be rather big, so we may need more heap space.
diff --git a/samples/csvparser/build.sh b/samples/csvparser/build.sh
index 8746699f767..5922d14c1da 100755
--- a/samples/csvparser/build.sh
+++ b/samples/csvparser/build.sh
@@ -18,5 +18,5 @@ LINKER_ARGS=${!var}
 var=COMPILER_ARGS_${TARGET}
 COMPILER_ARGS=${!var} # add -opt for an optimized build.
 
-cinterop -def:$DIR/stdio.def -copt:"$CFLAGS" -target:$TARGET -o:stdio.kt.bc || exit 1
+cinterop -def $DIR/stdio.def -copt "$CFLAGS" -target $TARGET -o stdio.kt.bc || exit 1
 konanc $COMPILER_ARGS -target $TARGET $DIR/CsvParser.kt -library stdio.kt.bc -o CsvParser.kexe || exit 1
diff --git a/samples/gitchurn/build.sh b/samples/gitchurn/build.sh
index 40f805fe654..ec9b369abe2 100755
--- a/samples/gitchurn/build.sh
+++ b/samples/gitchurn/build.sh
@@ -23,5 +23,5 @@ LINKER_ARGS=${!var}
 var=COMPILER_ARGS_${TARGET}
 COMPILER_ARGS=${!var} # add -opt for an optimized build.
 
-cinterop -copt:$CFLAGS -def:$DIR/libgit2.def -target:$TARGET -o:libgit2.kt.bc || exit 1
+cinterop -copt $CFLAGS -def $DIR/libgit2.def -target $TARGET -o libgit2.kt.bc || exit 1
 konanc -target $TARGET src -library libgit2.kt.bc -linkerArgs "$LINKER_ARGS" -o GitChurn.kexe || exit 1
diff --git a/samples/libcurl/build.sh b/samples/libcurl/build.sh
index 756261cba18..b57d65e4d82 100755
--- a/samples/libcurl/build.sh
+++ b/samples/libcurl/build.sh
@@ -23,5 +23,5 @@ LINKER_ARGS=${!var}
 var=COMPILER_ARGS_${TARGET}
 COMPILER_ARGS=${!var} # add -opt for an optimized build.
 
-cinterop -copt:"$CFLAGS" -copt:-I. -def:$DIR/libcurl.def -target:$TARGET -o:libcurl.bc || exit 1
+cinterop -copt "$CFLAGS" -copt -I. -def $DIR/libcurl.def -target $TARGET -o libcurl.bc || exit 1
 konanc -target $TARGET src -library libcurl.bc -linkerArgs "$LINKER_ARGS" -o Curl.kexe || exit 1
diff --git a/samples/opengl/build.sh b/samples/opengl/build.sh
index 343b81be101..5ce3238908d 100755
--- a/samples/opengl/build.sh
+++ b/samples/opengl/build.sh
@@ -21,5 +21,5 @@ LINKER_ARGS=${!var}
 var=COMPILER_ARGS_${TARGET}
 COMPILER_ARGS=${!var} # add -opt for an optimized build.
 
-cinterop -def:$DIR/opengl.def -target:$TARGET -o:opengl.kt.bc || exit 1
+cinterop -def $DIR/opengl.def -target $TARGET -o opengl.kt.bc || exit 1
 konanc -target $TARGET $DIR/OpenGlTeapot.kt -library opengl.kt.bc -linkerArgs "$LINKER_ARGS" -o OpenGlTeapot.kexe || exit 1
diff --git a/samples/socket/build.sh b/samples/socket/build.sh
index 176d1bf242f..4962195956d 100755
--- a/samples/socket/build.sh
+++ b/samples/socket/build.sh
@@ -18,5 +18,5 @@ LINKER_ARGS=${!var}
 var=COMPILER_ARGS_${TARGET}
 COMPILER_ARGS=${!var} # add -opt for an optimized build.
 
-cinterop -def:$DIR/sockets.def -copt:"$CFLAGS" -target:$TARGET -o:sockets.kt.bc || exit 1
+cinterop -def $DIR/sockets.def -copt "$CFLAGS" -target $TARGET -o sockets.kt.bc || exit 1
 konanc $COMPILER_ARGS -target $TARGET $DIR/EchoServer.kt -library sockets.kt.bc -o EchoServer.kexe || exit 1
diff --git a/samples/tetris/build.sh b/samples/tetris/build.sh
index d35a41d29f9..1b111c9424c 100755
--- a/samples/tetris/build.sh
+++ b/samples/tetris/build.sh
@@ -39,6 +39,6 @@ LINKER_ARGS=${!var}
 var=COMPILER_ARGS_${TARGET}
 COMPILER_ARGS=${!var} # add -opt for an optimized build.
 
-cinterop -def:$DIR/sdl.def -copt:"$CFLAGS" -target:$TARGET -o:sdl.kt.bc || exit 1
+cinterop -def $DIR/sdl.def -copt "$CFLAGS" -target $TARGET -o sdl.kt.bc || exit 1
 konanc $COMPILER_ARGS -target $TARGET $DIR/Tetris.kt -library sdl.kt.bc -linkerArgs "$LINKER_ARGS" -o Tetris.kexe || exit 1
 #strip Tetris.kexe