diff --git a/lib/rake/application.rb b/lib/rake/application.rb
index 88a38fd8c..8927d951b 100644
--- a/lib/rake/application.rb
+++ b/lib/rake/application.rb
@@ -88,7 +88,12 @@ def run(argv = ARGV)
     def init(app_name="rake", argv = ARGV)
       standard_exception_handling do
         @name = app_name
-        args = handle_options argv
+        begin
+          args = handle_options argv
+        rescue ArgumentError
+          # Backword compatibility for capistrano
+          args = handle_options
+        end
         collect_command_line_tasks(args)
       end
     end