diff --git a/fire/core.py b/fire/core.py
index 07698e05..5b3a068f 100644
--- a/fire/core.py
+++ b/fire/core.py
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ def main(argv):
 import shlex
 import sys
 import types
+import re
 
 from fire import completion
 from fire import decorators
@@ -750,7 +751,7 @@ def _ParseArgs(fn_args, fn_defaults, num_required_args, kwargs,
 def _ParseKeywordArgs(args, fn_spec):
   """Parses the supplied arguments for keyword arguments.
 
-  Given a list of arguments, finds occurences of --name value, and uses 'name'
+  Given a list of arguments, finds occurrences of --name value, and uses 'name'
   as the keyword and 'value' as the value. Constructs and returns a dictionary
   of these keyword arguments, and returns a list of the remaining arguments.
 
@@ -767,6 +768,9 @@ def _ParseKeywordArgs(args, fn_spec):
     kwargs: A dictionary mapping keywords to values.
     remaining_kwargs: A list of the unused kwargs from the original args.
     remaining_args: A list of the unused arguments from the original args.
+  Raises:
+    FireError: if a boolean shortcut arg is passed that could refer to multiple
+        args
   """
   kwargs = {}
   remaining_kwargs = []
@@ -785,15 +789,27 @@ def _ParseKeywordArgs(args, fn_spec):
       continue
 
     arg_consumed = False
-    if argument.startswith('--'):
+    if _IsFlag(argument):
       # This is a named argument; get its value from this arg or the next.
       got_argument = False
 
-      keyword = argument[2:]
+      keyword = ''
+      if _IsSingleCharFlag(argument):
+        keychar = argument[1]
+        potential_args = [arg for arg in fn_args if arg[0] == keychar]
+        if len(potential_args) == 1:
+          keyword = potential_args[0]
+        elif len(potential_args) > 1:
+          raise FireError("The argument '{}' is ambiguous as it could "
+                          "refer to any of the following arguments: {}".format(
+                              argument, potential_args))
+
+      else:
+        keyword = argument[2:]
+
       contains_equals = '=' in keyword
-      is_bool_syntax = (
-          not contains_equals and
-          (index + 1 == len(args) or args[index + 1].startswith('--')))
+      is_bool_syntax = (not contains_equals and
+                        (index + 1 == len(args) or _IsFlag(args[index + 1])))
       if contains_equals:
         keyword, value = keyword.split('=', 1)
         got_argument = True
@@ -828,6 +844,7 @@ def _ParseKeywordArgs(args, fn_spec):
           if skip_argument:
             remaining_kwargs.append(args[index + 1])
 
+
     if not arg_consumed:
       # The argument was not consumed, so it is still a remaining argument.
       remaining_args.append(argument)
@@ -835,6 +852,21 @@ def _ParseKeywordArgs(args, fn_spec):
   return kwargs, remaining_kwargs, remaining_args
 
 
+def _IsFlag(argument):
+  """Determines if the argument is a flag argument"""
+  return _IsSingleCharFlag(argument) or _IsMultiCharFlag(argument)
+
+
+def _IsSingleCharFlag(argument):
+  """Determines if the argument is a single char flag (e.g. '-a')"""
+  return re.match('^-[a-z]$', argument)
+
+
+def _IsMultiCharFlag(argument):
+  """Determines if the argument is a multi char flag (e.g. '--alpha')"""
+  return argument.startswith('--')
+
+
 def _ParseValue(value, index, arg, metadata):
   """Parses value, a string, into the appropriate type.
 
diff --git a/fire/fire_test.py b/fire/fire_test.py
index dd8527b5..267c6fa2 100644
--- a/fire/fire_test.py
+++ b/fire/fire_test.py
@@ -385,6 +385,31 @@ def testBoolParsingLessExpectedCases(self):
         fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults, command=r'identity --alpha \"--test\"'),
         ('--test', '0'))
 
+  def testBoolShortcutParsing(self):
+    self.assertEqual(
+        fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults,
+                  command=['identity', '-a']), (True, '0'))
+    self.assertEqual(
+        fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults,
+                  command=['identity', '-a', '--beta=10']), (True, 10))
+    self.assertEqual(
+        fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults,
+                  command=['identity', '-a', '-b']), (True, True))
+    self.assertEqual(
+        fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults,
+                  command=['identity', '-a', '42', '-b']), (42, True))
+    self.assertEqual(
+        fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults,
+                  command=['identity', '-a', '42', '-b', '10']), (42, 10))
+    self.assertEqual(
+        fire.Fire(tc.MixedDefaults,
+                  command=['identity', '--alpha', 'True', '-b', '10']),
+        (True, 10))
+    with self.assertRaisesFireExit(2):
+      # This test attempts to use a boolean shortcut on a function with
+      # a naming conflict for the shortcut, triggering a FireError
+      fire.Fire(tc.SimilarArgNames, command=['identity', '-b'])
+
   def testBoolParsingWithNo(self):
     # In these examples --nothing always refers to the nothing argument:
     def fn1(thing, nothing):
diff --git a/fire/test_components.py b/fire/test_components.py
index 7ce52e89..ee687abd 100644
--- a/fire/test_components.py
+++ b/fire/test_components.py
@@ -104,6 +104,12 @@ def identity(self, alpha, beta='0'):
     return alpha, beta
 
 
+class SimilarArgNames(object):
+
+  def identity(self, bool_one=False, bool_two=False):
+    return bool_one, bool_two
+
+
 class Annotations(object):
 
   def double(self, count=0):