diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index ce4457231..f65ba3dff 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1861,6 +1861,7 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "uu_fold"
 version = "0.0.6"
 dependencies = [
+ "clap",
  "uucore",
  "uucore_procs",
 ]
diff --git a/src/uu/fold/Cargo.toml b/src/uu/fold/Cargo.toml
index f99abc691..c5578384e 100644
--- a/src/uu/fold/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src/uu/fold/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ edition = "2018"
 path = "src/fold.rs"
 
 [dependencies]
+clap = "2.33"
 uucore = { version=">=0.0.8", package="uucore", path="../../uucore" }
 uucore_procs = { version=">=0.0.5", package="uucore_procs", path="../../uucore_procs" }
 
diff --git a/src/uu/fold/src/fold.rs b/src/uu/fold/src/fold.rs
index fac0ff28e..e19e9db19 100644
--- a/src/uu/fold/src/fold.rs
+++ b/src/uu/fold/src/fold.rs
@@ -10,48 +10,71 @@
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate uucore;
 
+use clap::{App, Arg};
 use std::fs::File;
 use std::io::{stdin, BufRead, BufReader, Read};
 use std::path::Path;
 
 const TAB_WIDTH: usize = 8;
 
+static NAME: &str = "fold";
+static VERSION: &str = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
 static SYNTAX: &str = "[OPTION]... [FILE]...";
 static SUMMARY: &str = "Writes each file (or standard input if no files are given)
  to standard output whilst breaking long lines";
-static LONG_HELP: &str = "";
+
+mod options {
+    pub const BYTES: &str = "bytes";
+    pub const SPACES: &str = "spaces";
+    pub const WIDTH: &str = "width";
+    pub const FILE: &str = "file";
+}
 
 pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> i32 {
     let args = args.collect_str();
 
     let (args, obs_width) = handle_obsolete(&args[..]);
-    let matches = app!(SYNTAX, SUMMARY, LONG_HELP)
-        .optflag(
-            "b",
-            "bytes",
-            "count using bytes rather than columns (meaning control characters \
+    let matches = App::new(executable!())
+        .name(NAME)
+        .version(VERSION)
+        .usage(SYNTAX)
+        .about(SUMMARY)
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name(options::BYTES)
+                .long(options::BYTES)
+                .short("b")
+                .help(
+                    "count using bytes rather than columns (meaning control characters \
              such as newline are not treated specially)",
+                )
+                .takes_value(false),
         )
-        .optflag(
-            "s",
-            "spaces",
-            "break lines at word boundaries rather than a hard cut-off",
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name(options::SPACES)
+                .long(options::SPACES)
+                .short("s")
+                .help("break lines at word boundaries rather than a hard cut-off")
+                .takes_value(false),
         )
-        .optopt(
-            "w",
-            "width",
-            "set WIDTH as the maximum line width rather than 80",
-            "WIDTH",
+        .arg(
+            Arg::with_name(options::WIDTH)
+                .long(options::WIDTH)
+                .short("w")
+                .help("set WIDTH as the maximum line width rather than 80")
+                .value_name("WIDTH")
+                .allow_hyphen_values(true)
+                .takes_value(true),
         )
-        .parse(args);
+        .arg(Arg::with_name(options::FILE).hidden(true).multiple(true))
+        .get_matches_from(args.clone());
 
-    let bytes = matches.opt_present("b");
-    let spaces = matches.opt_present("s");
-    let poss_width = if matches.opt_present("w") {
-        matches.opt_str("w")
-    } else {
-        obs_width
+    let bytes = matches.is_present(options::BYTES);
+    let spaces = matches.is_present(options::SPACES);
+    let poss_width = match matches.value_of(options::WIDTH) {
+        Some(v) => Some(v.to_owned()),
+        None => obs_width,
     };
+
     let width = match poss_width {
         Some(inp_width) => match inp_width.parse::<usize>() {
             Ok(width) => width,
@@ -59,11 +82,12 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> i32 {
         },
         None => 80,
     };
-    let files = if matches.free.is_empty() {
-        vec!["-".to_owned()]
-    } else {
-        matches.free
+
+    let files = match matches.values_of(options::FILE) {
+        Some(v) => v.map(|v| v.to_owned()).collect(),
+        None => vec!["-".to_owned()],
     };
+
     fold(files, bytes, spaces, width);
 
     0
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_fold.rs b/tests/by-util/test_fold.rs
index cc92c8ff3..bdc5e2246 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_fold.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_fold.rs
@@ -397,3 +397,13 @@ fn test_bytewise_fold_at_word_boundary_only_whitespace_preserve_final_newline()
         .succeeds()
         .stdout_is("  \n  \n");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_obsolete_syntax() {
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("-5")
+        .arg("-s")
+        .arg("space_separated_words.txt")
+        .succeeds()
+        .stdout_is("test1\n \ntest2\n \ntest3\n \ntest4\n \ntest5\n \ntest6\n ");
+}
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/fold/space_separated_words.txt b/tests/fixtures/fold/space_separated_words.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13b980632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/fold/space_separated_words.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+test1 test2 test3 test4 test5 test6 
\ No newline at end of file