diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 7ad59f544..bf8d48f60 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -118,6 +118,9 @@ Detailed list of changes
 
 - panel kitten: Allow specifying panel size in pixels in addition to cells
 
+- Fix a regression in 0.36.0 that caused using = with single letter options to
+  no longer work correctly (:iss:`8556`)
+
 
 0.41.1 [2025-04-03]
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/kitty/launcher/main.c b/kitty/launcher/main.c
index 582a72bf6..15cbe32cd 100644
--- a/kitty/launcher/main.c
+++ b/kitty/launcher/main.c
@@ -407,9 +407,12 @@ handle_option_value:
                 }
             } else {
                 char buf[2] = {0};
+                current_option_expecting_argument[0] = 0;
                 for (int i = 1; arg[i] != 0; i++) {
                     switch(arg[i]) {
-                        case '=': fprintf(stderr, "= is not allowed in short options, only long options. -d=xyz is illegal, --directory=xyz is legal. Use -d xyz instead.\n"); exit(1); break;
+                        case '=':
+                            arg = arg + i + 1;
+                            goto handle_option_value;
                         case 'v': opts.version_requested = true; break;
                         case '1': opts.single_instance = true; break;
                         default: