diff --git a/board/qemu/start-qemu.sh.in b/board/qemu/start-qemu.sh.in
index 4dc9bfbb0d..cbc33a76d1 100644
--- a/board/qemu/start-qemu.sh.in
+++ b/board/qemu/start-qemu.sh.in
@@ -4,11 +4,20 @@ BINARIES_DIR="${0%/*}/"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2164
 cd "${BINARIES_DIR}"
 
-if [ "${1}" = "serial-only" ]; then
+mode_serial=false
+while [ "$1" ]; do
+    case "$1" in
+    --serial-only|serial-only) mode_serial=true; shift;;
+    --) shift; break;;
+    *) echo "unknown option: $1" >&2; exit 1;;
+    esac
+done
+
+if ${mode_serial}; then
     EXTRA_ARGS='@SERIAL_ARGS@'
 else
     EXTRA_ARGS='@DEFAULT_ARGS@'
 fi
 
 export PATH="@HOST_DIR@/bin:${PATH}"
-exec @QEMU_CMD_LINE@ ${EXTRA_ARGS}
+exec @QEMU_CMD_LINE@ ${EXTRA_ARGS} "$@"