diff --git a/board_enable.c b/board_enable.c
index bdd5db3..2229f8b 100644
--- a/board_enable.c
+++ b/board_enable.c
@@ -2070,7 +2070,8 @@
  * The coreboot ids are used two fold. When running with a coreboot firmware,
  * the ids uniquely matches the coreboot board identification string. When a
  * legacy bios is installed and when autodetection is not possible, these ids
- * can be used to identify the board through the -m command line argument.
+ * can be used to identify the board through the -p internal:mainboard=
+ * programmer parameter.
  *
  * When a board is identified through its coreboot ids (in both cases), the
  * main pci ids are still required to match, as a safeguard.
@@ -2245,7 +2246,8 @@
 			msg_pinfo("AMBIGUOUS BOARD NAME: %s\n", part);
 			msg_pinfo("At least vendors '%s' and '%s' match.\n",
 				  partmatch->lb_vendor, board->lb_vendor);
-			msg_perr("Please use the full -m vendor:part syntax.\n");
+			msg_perr("Please use the full -p internal:mainboard="
+				 "vendor:part syntax.\n");
 			return NULL;
 		}
 		partmatch = board;
@@ -2259,7 +2261,8 @@
 		 * coreboot table. If it was, the coreboot implementor is
 		 * expected to fix flashrom, too.
 		 */
-		msg_perr("\nUnknown vendor:board from -m option: %s:%s\n\n",
+		msg_perr("\nUnknown vendor:board from -p internal:mainboard="
+			 " programmer parameter:\n%s:%s\n\n",
 			 vendor, part);
 	}
 	return NULL;
diff --git a/cbtable.c b/cbtable.c
index ea8964a..4495d9d 100644
--- a/cbtable.c
+++ b/cbtable.c
@@ -33,18 +33,27 @@
 char *lb_part = NULL, *lb_vendor = NULL;
 int partvendor_from_cbtable = 0;
 
-void lb_vendor_dev_from_string(char *boardstring)
+/* Parse the [<vendor>:]<board> string specified by the user as part of
+ * -p internal:mainboard=[<vendor>:]<board> and set lb_vendor and lb_part
+ * to the extracted values.
+ * Note: strtok modifies the original string, so we work on a copy and allocate
+ * memory for lb_vendor and lb_part with strdup.
+ */
+void lb_vendor_dev_from_string(const char *boardstring)
 {
+	/* strtok may modify the original string. */
+	char *tempstr = strdup(boardstring);
 	char *tempstr2 = NULL;
-	strtok(boardstring, ":");
+	strtok(tempstr, ":");
 	tempstr2 = strtok(NULL, ":");
 	if (tempstr2) {
-		lb_vendor = boardstring;
-		lb_part = tempstr2;
+		lb_vendor = strdup(tempstr);
+		lb_part = strdup(tempstr2);
 	} else {
 		lb_vendor = NULL;
-		lb_part = boardstring;
+		lb_part = strdup(tempstr);
 	}
+	free(tempstr);
 }
 
 static unsigned long compute_checksum(void *addr, unsigned long length)
diff --git a/cli_classic.c b/cli_classic.c
index 3928ded..7ce74e5 100644
--- a/cli_classic.c
+++ b/cli_classic.c
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@
 	         "-z|"
 #endif
 	         "-E|-r <file>|-w <file>|-v <file>]\n"
-	       "       [-c <chipname>] [-m [<vendor>:]<part>] [-l <file>]\n"
+	       "       [-c <chipname>] [-l <file>]\n"
 	       "       [-i <image>] [-p <programmername>[:<parameters>]]\n\n");
 
 	printf("Please note that the command line interface for flashrom has "
@@ -128,11 +128,6 @@
 	       "   -V | --verbose                    more verbose output\n"
 	       "   -c | --chip <chipname>            probe only for specified "
 	         "flash chip\n"
-#if CONFIG_INTERNAL == 1
-	       /* FIXME: --mainboard should be a programmer parameter */
-	       "   -m | --mainboard <[vendor:]part>  override mainboard "
-	         "detection\n"
-#endif
 	       "   -f | --force                      force specific operations "
 	         "(see man page)\n"
 	       "   -n | --noverify                   don't auto-verify\n"
@@ -190,7 +185,6 @@
 		{"verify",		1, NULL, 'v'},
 		{"noverify",		0, NULL, 'n'},
 		{"chip",		1, NULL, 'c'},
-		{"mainboard",		1, NULL, 'm'},
 		{"verbose",		0, NULL, 'V'},
 		{"force",		0, NULL, 'f'},
 		{"layout",		1, NULL, 'l'},
@@ -275,17 +269,6 @@
 			}
 			erase_it = 1;
 			break;
-		case 'm':
-#if CONFIG_INTERNAL == 1
-			tempstr = strdup(optarg);
-			lb_vendor_dev_from_string(tempstr);
-#else
-			fprintf(stderr, "Error: Internal programmer support "
-				"was not compiled in and --mainboard only\n"
-				"applies to the internal programmer. Aborting.\n");
-			cli_classic_abort_usage();
-#endif
-			break;
 		case 'f':
 			force = 1;
 			break;
@@ -426,14 +409,6 @@
 	if (prog == PROGRAMMER_INVALID)
 		prog = default_programmer;
 
-#if CONFIG_INTERNAL == 1
-	if ((prog != PROGRAMMER_INTERNAL) && (lb_part || lb_vendor)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error: --mainboard requires the internal "
-				"programmer. Aborting.\n");
-		cli_classic_abort_usage();
-	}
-#endif
-
 	/* FIXME: Delay calibration should happen in programmer code. */
 	myusec_calibrate_delay();
 
diff --git a/flashrom.8 b/flashrom.8
index 66cde4f..6b25b43 100644
--- a/flashrom.8
+++ b/flashrom.8
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 .B flashrom \fR[\fB\-n\fR] [\fB\-V\fR] [\fB\-f\fR] [\fB\-h\fR|\fB\-R\fR|\
 \fB\-L\fR|\fB\-z\fR|\fB\-E\fR|\fB\-r\fR <file>|\fB\-w\fR <file>|\
 \fB\-v\fR <file>]
-         [\fB\-c\fR <chipname>] [\fB\-m\fR [<vendor>:]<board>] \
+         [\fB\-c\fR <chipname>] \
 [\fB\-l\fR <file>]
          [\fB\-i\fR <image>] [\fB\-p\fR <programmername>[:<parameters>]]
 .SH DESCRIPTION
@@ -88,19 +88,6 @@
 without the vendor name as parameter. Please note that the chip name is
 case sensitive.
 .TP
-.B "\-m, \-\-mainboard" [<vendor>:]<board>
-Override mainboard settings.
-.sp
-flashrom reads the coreboot table to determine the current mainboard. If no
-coreboot table could be read or if you want to override these values, you can
-specify \-m, e.g.:
-.sp
-.B "  flashrom \-\-mainboard AGAMI:ARUMA \-w agami_aruma.rom"
-.sp
-See the 'Known boards' or 'Known laptops' section in the output
-of 'flashrom \-L' for a list of boards which require the specification of
-the board name, if no coreboot table is found.
-.TP
 .B "\-f, \-\-force"
 Force one or more of the following actions:
 .sp
@@ -245,10 +232,15 @@
 running coreboot, the mainboard type is determined from the coreboot table.
 Otherwise, the mainboard is detected by examining the onboard PCI devices
 and possibly DMI info. If PCI and DMI do not contain information to uniquely
-identify the mainboard (which is the exception), it might be necessary to
-specify the mainboard using the
-.B \-m
-switch (see above).
+identify the mainboard (which is the exception), or if you want to override
+the detected mainboard model, you can specify the mainboard using the
+.sp
+.B "  flashrom \-p internal:mainboard=[<vendor>:]<board>"
+syntax.
+.sp
+See the 'Known boards' or 'Known laptops' section in the output
+of 'flashrom \-L' for a list of boards which require the specification of
+the board name, if no coreboot table is found.
 .sp
 Some of these board-specific flash enabling functions (called
 .BR "board enables" )
diff --git a/internal.c b/internal.c
index 386b842..5716e64 100644
--- a/internal.c
+++ b/internal.c
@@ -213,6 +213,16 @@
 	}
 	free(arg);
 
+	arg = extract_programmer_param("mainboard");
+	if (arg && strlen(arg)) {
+		lb_vendor_dev_from_string(arg);
+	} else if (arg && !strlen(arg)) {
+		msg_perr("Missing argument for mainboard.\n");
+		free(arg);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	free(arg);
+
 	get_io_perms();
 	if (register_shutdown(internal_shutdown, NULL))
 		return 1;
diff --git a/layout.c b/layout.c
index 1f7f01a..90d3cce 100644
--- a/layout.c
+++ b/layout.c
@@ -106,11 +106,11 @@
 
 	/*
 	 * If lb_vendor is not set, the coreboot table was
-	 * not found. Nor was -m VENDOR:PART specified.
+	 * not found. Nor was -p internal:mainboard=VENDOR:PART specified.
 	 */
 	if (!lb_vendor || !lb_part) {
-		msg_pinfo("Note: If the following flash access fails, "
-		       "try -m <vendor>:<mainboard>.\n");
+		msg_pinfo("Note: If the following flash access fails, try "
+			  "-p internal:mainboard=<vendor>:<mainboard>.\n");
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -126,14 +126,17 @@
 			       "seem to fit to this machine - forcing it.\n");
 		} else {
 			msg_pinfo("ERROR: Your firmware image (%s:%s) does not "
-			       "appear to\n       be correct for the detected "
-			       "mainboard (%s:%s)\n\nOverride with -p internal:"
-			       "boardmismatch=force if you are absolutely sure "
-			       "that\nyou are using a correct "
-			       "image for this mainboard or override\nthe detected "
-			       "values with --mainboard <vendor>:<mainboard>.\n\n",
-			       mainboard_vendor, mainboard_part, lb_vendor,
-			       lb_part);
+				  "appear to\n"
+				  "       be correct for the detected "
+				  "mainboard (%s:%s)\n\n"
+				  "Override with -p internal:boardmismatch="
+				  "force to ignore the board name in the\n"
+				  "firmware image or override the detected "
+				  "mainboard with\n"
+				  "-p internal:mainboard=<vendor>:<mainboard>."
+				  "\n\n",
+				  mainboard_vendor, mainboard_part, lb_vendor,
+				  lb_part);
 			exit(1);
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/print.c b/print.c
index a94ce6e..db7ed65 100644
--- a/print.c
+++ b/print.c
@@ -389,7 +389,10 @@
 	for (i = strlen("Board"); i < maxboardlen; i++)
 		msg_ginfo(" ");
 
-	msg_ginfo("Status  Required option\n\n");
+	msg_ginfo("Status  Required value for\n");
+	for (i = 0; i < maxvendorlen + maxboardlen + strlen("Status  "); i++)
+		msg_ginfo(" ");
+	msg_ginfo("-p internal:mainboard=\n");
 
 	for (b = boards; b->vendor != NULL; b++) {
 		msg_ginfo("%s", b->vendor);
@@ -407,7 +410,7 @@
 			if (e->lb_vendor == NULL)
 				msg_ginfo("(autodetected)");
 			else
-				msg_ginfo("-m %s:%s", e->lb_vendor,
+				msg_ginfo("%s:%s", e->lb_vendor,
 						   e->lb_part);
 		}
 		msg_ginfo("\n");
diff --git a/print_wiki.c b/print_wiki.c
index 57a27d8..1c9241e 100644
--- a/print_wiki.c
+++ b/print_wiki.c
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
 		       boards[i].url ? boards[i].url : "",
 		       boards[i].name,
 		       boards[i].url ? "]" : "",
-		       b[k].lb_vendor ? "-m " : "&mdash;",
+		       b[k].lb_vendor ? "-p internal:mainboard=" : "&mdash;",
 		       b[k].lb_vendor ? b[k].lb_vendor : "",
 		       b[k].lb_vendor ? ":" : "",
 		       b[k].lb_vendor ? b[k].lb_part : "",
diff --git a/programmer.h b/programmer.h
index d6b9cd6..6f69db1 100644
--- a/programmer.h
+++ b/programmer.h
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@
 void cleanup_cpu_msr(void);
 
 /* cbtable.c */
-void lb_vendor_dev_from_string(char *boardstring);
+void lb_vendor_dev_from_string(const char *boardstring);
 int coreboot_init(void);
 extern char *lb_part, *lb_vendor;
 extern int partvendor_from_cbtable;