diff --git a/src/flags.ts b/src/flags.ts
index bab81144..79fe64ad 100644
--- a/src/flags.ts
+++ b/src/flags.ts
@@ -20,12 +20,11 @@ export function preprocessCliFlags(process: ProcessLike): void {
   process.argv.map((arg) => {
     if (arg === '--dev-debug') {
       let debug = '*';
-      const filterIndex = process.argv.indexOf('--dev-filter');
+      const filterIndex = process.argv.indexOf('--debug-filter');
       if (filterIndex > 0) {
         debug = process.argv[filterIndex + 1];
 
-        process.argv.splice(filterIndex + 1, 1);
-        process.argv.splice(filterIndex, 1);
+        process.argv.splice(filterIndex, 2);
       }
       // convert --dev-debug into a set of environment variables
       process.env.DEBUG = debug;
@@ -34,7 +33,7 @@ export function preprocessCliFlags(process: ProcessLike): void {
       process.env.SFDX_DEBUG = '1';
       process.env.SFDX_ENV = 'development';
 
-      // need to calculate indexOf --dev-debug here because it might've changed based on --dev-filter
+      // need to calculate indexOf --dev-debug here because it might've changed based on --debug-filter
       process.argv.splice(process.argv.indexOf('--dev-debug'), 1);
     }
   });
diff --git a/test/flags.test.ts b/test/flags.test.ts
index cd97d618..d9f61c12 100644
--- a/test/flags.test.ts
+++ b/test/flags.test.ts
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ describe('CLI flags', () => {
 
   it('should recognize --dev-debug with a DEBUG filter', () => {
     const process: ProcessLike = {
-      argv: ['--dev-debug', '--dev-filter', 'sf:config'],
+      argv: ['--dev-debug', '--debug-filter', 'sf:config'],
       env: {},
     };
     preprocessCliFlags(process);
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ describe('CLI flags', () => {
 
   it('should recognize --dev-debug with a DEBUG filter in any order', () => {
     const process: ProcessLike = {
-      argv: ['--setdefault', '--dev-filter', 'sf:Config', '--dev-debug'],
+      argv: ['--setdefault', '--debug-filter', 'sf:Config', '--dev-debug'],
       env: {},
     };
     preprocessCliFlags(process);
@@ -80,11 +80,11 @@ describe('CLI flags', () => {
 
   it('should only set DEBUG if --dev-debug is present', () => {
     const process: ProcessLike = {
-      argv: ['--setdefault', '--dev-filter', 'sf:Config'],
+      argv: ['--setdefault', '--debug-filter', 'sf:Config'],
       env: {},
     };
     preprocessCliFlags(process);
-    expect(process.argv).to.deep.equal(['--setdefault', '--dev-filter', 'sf:Config']);
+    expect(process.argv).to.deep.equal(['--setdefault', '--debug-filter', 'sf:Config']);
     expect(process.env.DEBUG).to.undefined;
     expect(process.env.SF_DEBUG).to.be.undefined;
     expect(process.env.SF_ENV).to.undefined;