diff --git a/src/osmo-bsc/osmo_bsc_main.c b/src/osmo-bsc/osmo_bsc_main.c
index 9ddbe3577..0e5b4e6fa 100644
--- a/src/osmo-bsc/osmo_bsc_main.c
+++ b/src/osmo-bsc/osmo_bsc_main.c
@@ -104,12 +104,14 @@ static void print_help()
 	printf("  -e --log-level number		Set a global loglevel.\n");
 	printf("  -r --rf-ctl NAME		A unix domain socket to listen for cmds.\n");
 	printf("  -t --testmode			A special mode to provoke failures at the MSC.\n");
+	printf("  --vty-ref-xml			Generate the VTY reference XML output and exit.\n");
 }
 
 static void handle_options(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	while (1) {
 		int option_index = 0, c;
+		static int long_option = 0;
 		static struct option long_options[] = {
 			{"help", 0, 0, 'h'},
 			{"debug", 1, 0, 'd'},
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ static void handle_options(int argc, char **argv)
 			{"log-level", 1, 0, 'e'},
 			{"rf-ctl", 1, 0, 'r'},
 			{"testmode", 0, 0, 't'},
+			{"vty-ref-xml", 0, &long_option, 1},
 			{0, 0, 0, 0}
 		};
 
@@ -135,6 +138,15 @@ static void handle_options(int argc, char **argv)
 			print_usage();
 			print_help();
 			exit(0);
+		case 0:
+			switch (long_option) {
+			case 1:
+				vty_dump_xml_ref(stdout);
+				exit(0);
+			default:
+				fprintf(stderr, "error parsing cmdline options\n");
+				exit(2);
+			}
 		case 's':
 			log_set_use_color(osmo_stderr_target, 0);
 			break;