diff --git a/usr.bin/grep/grep.c b/usr.bin/grep/grep.c
index ecb176df42b1..4961c5b009a2 100644
--- a/usr.bin/grep/grep.c
+++ b/usr.bin/grep/grep.c
@@ -360,6 +360,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	} else if (pn[0] == 'l' && pn[1] == 'z') {
 		filebehave = FILE_LZMA;
 		pn += 2;
+	} else if (pn[0] == 'r') {
+		dirbehave = DIR_RECURSE;
+		Hflag = true;
 	} else if (pn[0] == 'z') {
 		filebehave = FILE_GZIP;
 		pn += 1;