diff --git a/sftp.1 b/sftp.1
index 39e7d6ed6..583a0ee1f 100644
--- a/sftp.1
+++ b/sftp.1
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.\" $OpenBSD: sftp.1,v 1.140 2022/03/31 17:27:27 naddy Exp $
+.\" $OpenBSD: sftp.1,v 1.141 2022/06/27 21:41:55 djm Exp $
 .\"
 .\" Copyright (c) 2001 Damien Miller.  All rights reserved.
 .\"
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 .\" (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
 .\" THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 .\"
-.Dd $Mdocdate: March 31 2022 $
+.Dd $Mdocdate: June 27 2022 $
 .Dt SFTP 1
 .Os
 .Sh NAME
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 .Op Fl B Ar buffer_size
 .Op Fl b Ar batchfile
 .Op Fl c Ar cipher
-.Op Fl D Ar sftp_server_path
+.Op Fl D Ar sftp_server_command
 .Op Fl F Ar ssh_config
 .Op Fl i Ar identity_file
 .Op Fl J Ar destination
@@ -167,10 +167,12 @@ flag).
 Selects the cipher to use for encrypting the data transfers.
 This option is directly passed to
 .Xr ssh 1 .
-.It Fl D Ar sftp_server_path
+.It Fl D Ar sftp_server_command
 Connect directly to a local sftp server
 (rather than via
 .Xr ssh 1 ) .
+A command and arguments may be specified, for example
+.Qq /path/sftp-server -el debug3 .
 This option may be useful in debugging the client and server.
 .It Fl F Ar ssh_config
 Specifies an alternative
diff --git a/sftp.c b/sftp.c
index 41c7f1c9f..7297e77c1 100644
--- a/sftp.c
+++ b/sftp.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* $OpenBSD: sftp.c,v 1.216 2022/05/13 06:31:50 djm Exp $ */
+/* $OpenBSD: sftp.c,v 1.217 2022/06/27 21:41:55 djm Exp $ */
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2001-2004 Damien Miller <djm@openbsd.org>
  *
@@ -2387,8 +2387,8 @@ usage(void)
 int
 main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
-	int in, out, ch, err, tmp, port = -1, noisy = 0;
-	char *host = NULL, *user, *cp, *file2 = NULL;
+	int r, in, out, ch, err, tmp, port = -1, noisy = 0;
+	char *host = NULL, *user, *cp, **cpp, *file2 = NULL;
 	int debug_level = 0;
 	char *file1 = NULL, *sftp_server = NULL;
 	char *ssh_program = _PATH_SSH_PROGRAM, *sftp_direct = NULL;
@@ -2586,10 +2586,12 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 		connect_to_server(ssh_program, args.list, &in, &out);
 	} else {
-		args.list = NULL;
-		addargs(&args, "sftp-server");
-
-		connect_to_server(sftp_direct, args.list, &in, &out);
+		if ((r = argv_split(sftp_direct, &tmp, &cpp, 1)) != 0)
+			fatal_r(r, "Parse -D arguments");
+		if (cpp[0] == 0)
+			fatal("No sftp server specified via -D");
+		connect_to_server(cpp[0], cpp, &in, &out);
+		argv_free(cpp, tmp);
 	}
 	freeargs(&args);