diff --git a/parse.go b/parse.go
index c53cdcf..20b7c7d 100644
--- a/parse.go
+++ b/parse.go
@@ -130,12 +130,18 @@ func ParseFlags(flags []string, dest ...interface{}) (*Parser, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return p, err
 	}
+	overrideFlags = append(overrideFlags, flags...)
 	err = p.Parse(flags)
 	return p, err
 }
 
+var overrideFlags []string
+
 // flags gets all command line arguments other than the first (program name)
 func flags() []string {
+	if len(overrideFlags) > 0 {
+		return overrideFlags
+	}
 	if len(os.Args) == 0 { // os.Args could be empty
 		return nil
 	}