diff --git a/man/machinectl.xml b/man/machinectl.xml
index a77d2419af..43a3b98840 100644
--- a/man/machinectl.xml
+++ b/man/machinectl.xml
@@ -195,16 +195,14 @@
       </varlistentry>
 
       <varlistentry>
-         <term><option>--setenv=</option></term>
+        <term><option>-E <replaceable>NAME</replaceable>=<replaceable>VALUE</replaceable></option></term>
+        <term><option>--setenv=<replaceable>NAME</replaceable>=<replaceable>VALUE</replaceable></option></term>
 
-         <listitem><para>When used with the <command>shell</command>
-         command, sets an environment variable to pass to the executed
-         shell. Takes a pair of environment variable name and value,
-         separated by <literal>=</literal> as argument. This switch
-         may be used multiple times to set multiple environment
-         variables. Note that this switch is not supported for the
-         <command>login</command> command (see
-         below).</para></listitem>
+         <listitem><para>When used with the <command>shell</command> command, sets an environment
+         variable to pass to the executed shell. Takes an environment variable name and value,
+         separated by <literal>=</literal>. This switch may be used multiple times to set multiple
+         environment variables. Note that this switch is not supported for the
+         <command>login</command> command (see below).</para></listitem>
       </varlistentry>
 
       <varlistentry>
diff --git a/src/machine/machinectl.c b/src/machine/machinectl.c
index 35177aa29e..c370ed57ec 100644
--- a/src/machine/machinectl.c
+++ b/src/machine/machinectl.c
@@ -2402,7 +2402,7 @@ static int help(int argc, char *argv[], void *userdata) {
                "     --kill-who=WHO           Who to send signal to\n"
                "  -s --signal=SIGNAL          Which signal to send\n"
                "     --uid=USER               Specify user ID to invoke shell as\n"
-               "     --setenv=VAR=VALUE       Add an environment variable for shell\n"
+               "  -E --setenv=VAR=VALUE       Add an environment variable for shell\n"
                "     --read-only              Create read-only bind mount\n"
                "     --mkdir                  Create directory before bind mounting, if missing\n"
                "  -n --lines=INTEGER          Number of journal entries to show\n"
@@ -2470,7 +2470,6 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                 ARG_FORCE,
                 ARG_FORMAT,
                 ARG_UID,
-                ARG_SETENV,
         };
 
         static const struct option options[] = {
@@ -2496,7 +2495,7 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                 { "force",           no_argument,       NULL, ARG_FORCE           },
                 { "format",          required_argument, NULL, ARG_FORMAT          },
                 { "uid",             required_argument, NULL, ARG_UID             },
-                { "setenv",          required_argument, NULL, ARG_SETENV          },
+                { "setenv",          required_argument, NULL, 'E'                 },
                 {}
         };
 
@@ -2624,7 +2623,7 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                         arg_uid = optarg;
                         break;
 
-                case ARG_SETENV:
+                case 'E':
                         if (!env_assignment_is_valid(optarg)) {
                                 log_error("Environment assignment invalid: %s", optarg);
                                 return -EINVAL;