diff --git a/locust/argument_parser.py b/locust/argument_parser.py
index c4ee468fea..96510c768b 100644
--- a/locust/argument_parser.py
+++ b/locust/argument_parser.py
@@ -201,14 +201,14 @@ def get_empty_argument_parser(add_help=True, default_config_files=DEFAULT_CONFIG
         usage=configargparse.SUPPRESS,
         description=textwrap.dedent(
             """
-Usage: locust [options] [UserClass ...]
+Usage: locust [options]
         """
         ),
         epilog="""Examples:
 
     locust -f my_test.py -H https://www.example.com
 
-    locust --headless -u 100 -t 20m --processes 4 MyHttpUser AnotherUser
+    locust --headless -u 100 -t 20m --processes 4 --user-classes MyHttpUser AnotherUser
 
 See documentation for more details, including how to set options using a file or environment variables: https://docs.locust.io/en/stable/configuration.html""",
     )
@@ -420,6 +420,12 @@ def setup_parser_arguments(parser):
         help="User configuration as a JSON string or file. A list of arguments or an Array of JSON configuration may be provided",
         env_var="LOCUST_CONFIG_USERS",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--user-classes",
+        nargs="*",
+        help="List of User classes to be used (available User classes can be listed with --list). LOCUST_USER_CLASSES environment variable can also be used to specify User classes. Default is to use all available User classes",
+        default=os.environ.get("LOCUST_USER_CLASSES", "").split(),
+    )
 
     web_ui_group = parser.add_argument_group("Web UI options")
     web_ui_group.add_argument(
@@ -743,13 +749,7 @@ def setup_parser_arguments(parser):
     )
 
     user_classes_group = parser.add_argument_group("User classes")
-    user_classes_group.add_argument(
-        "user_classes",
-        nargs="*",
-        metavar="<UserClass1 UserClass2>",
-        help="At the end of the command line, you can list User classes to be used (available User classes can be listed with --list). LOCUST_USER_CLASSES environment variable can also be used to specify User classes. Default is to use all available User classes",
-        default=os.environ.get("LOCUST_USER_CLASSES", "").split(),
-    )
+    user_classes_group.add_argument("old_user_classes", nargs="*")
 
 
 def get_parser(default_config_files=DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILES) -> LocustArgumentParser:
diff --git a/locust/main.py b/locust/main.py
index 317db376c6..f01f3f82f4 100644
--- a/locust/main.py
+++ b/locust/main.py
@@ -310,16 +310,27 @@ def kill_workers(children):
         sys.exit(1)
 
     # make sure specified User exists
+    names = set()
     if options.user_classes:
         if missing := set(options.user_classes) - set(user_classes.keys()):
             logger.error(f"Unknown User(s): {', '.join(missing)}\n")
             sys.exit(1)
         else:
-            names = set(options.user_classes) & set(user_classes.keys())
-            user_classes = [user_classes[n] for n in names]
-    else:
-        # list() call is needed to consume the dict_view object in Python 3
-        user_classes = list(user_classes.values())
+            names |= set(options.user_classes)
+    if options.old_user_classes:
+        # TODO deprecate in future release
+        # warnings.warn(
+        #    "Specifying users at the end of the command is deprecated. Use --run-users parameter instead",
+        #     DeprecationWarning,
+        # )
+        if missing := set(options.old_user_classes) - set(user_classes.keys()):
+            logger.error(f"Unknown User(s): {', '.join(missing)}\n")
+            sys.exit(1)
+        else:
+            names |= set(options.old_user_classes)
+    if not (options.old_user_classes or options.user_classes):
+        names = set(user_classes.keys())
+    user_classes = [user_classes[n] for n in names]
 
     if os.name != "nt" and not options.master:
         try:
diff --git a/locust/test/test_load_locustfile.py b/locust/test/test_load_locustfile.py
index d3058deeb4..cd5f4cef8b 100644
--- a/locust/test/test_load_locustfile.py
+++ b/locust/test/test_load_locustfile.py
@@ -166,9 +166,8 @@ def test_specify_config_file(self):
             textwrap.dedent(
                 """
             host = localhost  # With "="
-            u 100             # Short form
-            spawn-rate 5      # long form
-                              # boolean
+            users 100
+            spawn-rate 5
             headless
             # (for some reason an inline comment makes boolean values fail in configargparse nowadays)
         """
diff --git a/locust/test/test_main.py b/locust/test/test_main.py
index f50625257a..5d6cfdcb95 100644
--- a/locust/test/test_main.py
+++ b/locust/test/test_main.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ def test_help_arg(self):
             timeout=5,
             text=True,
         ).strip()
-        self.assertTrue(output.startswith("Usage: locust [options] [UserClass"))
+        self.assertTrue(output.startswith("Usage: locust [options]"))
         self.assertIn("Common options:", output)
         self.assertIn("-f <filename>, --locustfile <filename>", output)
         self.assertIn("Logging options:", output)
@@ -1087,6 +1087,7 @@ def t(self):
                         "5",
                         "-r",
                         "10",
+                        "--user-classes",
                         "User2",
                         "User3",
                     ]
@@ -2202,6 +2203,7 @@ def test_processes_error_doesnt_blow_up_completely(self):
                     "4",
                     "-L",
                     "DEBUG",
+                    "--user-classes",
                     "UserThatDoesntExist",
                 ],
                 stdout=PIPE,
diff --git a/locust/test/test_parser.py b/locust/test/test_parser.py
index a76cc9d7fb..9bc4a6da5c 100644
--- a/locust/test/test_parser.py
+++ b/locust/test/test_parser.py
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@ def test_parse_options(self):
                 "--reset-stats",
                 "--stop-timeout",
                 "5",
+                "--user-classes",
                 "MyUserClass",
             ]
         )
@@ -167,6 +168,7 @@ def test_parse_locustfile(self):
                     "--reset-stats",
                     "--stop-timeout",
                     "5",
+                    "--user-classes",
                     "MyUserClass",
                 ]
             )