diff --git a/main/cli.c b/main/cli.c
index 2c5f747aff1d437086b0bab35db9a0e28f99c9cc..40f506c2a8b726a5477c0ea2e8375bf66edbc944 100644
--- a/main/cli.c
+++ b/main/cli.c
@@ -405,9 +405,9 @@ static int handle_showuptime(int fd, int argc, char *argv[])
 {
 	/* 'show uptime [seconds]' */
 	time_t curtime = time(NULL);
-	int printsec = (argc == 3 && !strcasecmp(argv[2],"seconds"));
+	int printsec = (argc == 4 && !strcasecmp(argv[3],"seconds"));
 
-	if (argc != 2 && !printsec)
+	if (argc != 3 && !printsec)
 		return RESULT_SHOWUSAGE;
 	if (ast_startuptime)
 		print_uptimestr(fd, curtime - ast_startuptime, "System uptime", printsec);