diff --git a/new/doc.jam b/new/doc.jam
index 1ed4b414e..9888747f0 100644
--- a/new/doc.jam
+++ b/new/doc.jam
@@ -52,6 +52,17 @@ help-output-file = help ;
 # from occuring.
 #
 rule help ( )
+{
+    if ! $(.did-help)
+    {
+        .did-help = [ help-options ] ;
+    }
+}
+
+# Temporary so that the option parsing can be guarded to execute once
+# until some of this is moved to help.jam options file.
+#
+local rule help-options ( )
 {
     local args = [ class.new vector [ modules.peek : ARGV ] ] ;
     local did-help = ;
diff --git a/v2/util/doc.jam b/v2/util/doc.jam
index 1ed4b414e..9888747f0 100644
--- a/v2/util/doc.jam
+++ b/v2/util/doc.jam
@@ -52,6 +52,17 @@ help-output-file = help ;
 # from occuring.
 #
 rule help ( )
+{
+    if ! $(.did-help)
+    {
+        .did-help = [ help-options ] ;
+    }
+}
+
+# Temporary so that the option parsing can be guarded to execute once
+# until some of this is moved to help.jam options file.
+#
+local rule help-options ( )
 {
     local args = [ class.new vector [ modules.peek : ARGV ] ] ;
     local did-help = ;