--- src/file.c
+++ src/file.c	2013-01-22 14:49:49.305453781 +0000
@@ -94,10 +94,12 @@ private const char *separator = ":";	/*
 private const struct option long_options[] = {
 #define OPT(shortname, longname, opt, doc)      \
     {longname, opt, NULL, shortname},
+#define OPT_POSIX OPT
 #define OPT_LONGONLY(longname, opt, doc)        \
     {longname, opt, NULL, 0},
 #include "file_opts.h"
 #undef OPT
+#undef OPT_POSIX
 #undef OPT_LONGONLY
     {0, 0, NULL, 0}
 };
@@ -522,6 +524,7 @@ docprint(const char *opts)
 private void
 help(void)
 {
+	const unsigned long posix = (unsigned long)getenv("POSIXLY_CORRECT");
 	(void)fputs(
 "Usage: file [OPTION...] [FILE...]\n"
 "Determine type of FILEs.\n"
@@ -529,11 +532,16 @@ help(void)
 #define OPT(shortname, longname, opt, doc)      \
 	fprintf(stdout, "  -%c, --" longname, shortname), \
 	docprint(doc);
+#define OPT_POSIX(shortname, longname, opt, doc) \
+	fprintf(stdout, "  -%c, --" longname "%s", shortname, \
+		(shortname == 'L') ? (posix ? " (default)" : "") : (posix ? "" : " (default)")), \
+	docprint(doc);
 #define OPT_LONGONLY(longname, opt, doc)        \
 	fprintf(stdout, "      --" longname),	\
 	docprint(doc);
 #include "file_opts.h"
 #undef OPT
+#undef OPT_POSIX
 #undef OPT_LONGONLY
 	fprintf(stdout, "\nReport bugs to http://bugs.gw.com/\n");
 	exit(0);
--- src/file_opts.h
+++ src/file_opts.h	2012-09-18 10:14:38.000000000 +0000
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ OPT_LONGONLY("mime-encoding", 0, "
 OPT('k', "keep-going", 0, "           don't stop at the first match\n")
 #ifdef S_IFLNK
 OPT('l', "list", 0, "                 list magic strength\n")
-OPT('L', "dereference", 0, "          follow symlinks (default)\n")
-OPT('h', "no-dereference", 0, "       don't follow symlinks\n")
+OPT_POSIX('L', "dereference", 0, "          follow symlinks\n")
+OPT_POSIX('h', "no-dereference", 0, "       don't follow symlinks\n")
 #endif
 OPT('n', "no-buffer", 0, "            do not buffer output\n")
 OPT('N', "no-pad", 0, "               do not pad output\n")