diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_hist.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_hist.c
index 198a17a3ea2e..7be17d09f7e8 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_hist.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_hist.c
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ static void osnoise_hist_usage(char *usage)
 	static const char * const msg[] = {
 		"",
 		"  usage: rtla osnoise hist [-h] [-D] [-d s] [-a us] [-p us] [-r us] [-s us] [-S us] \\",
-		"	  [-T us] [-t[=file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] \\",
+		"	  [-T us] [-t[file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] \\",
 		"	  [-c cpu-list] [-H cpu-list] [-P priority] [-b N] [-E N] [--no-header] [--no-summary] \\",
 		"	  [--no-index] [--with-zeros] [-C[=cgroup_name]] [--warm-up]",
 		"",
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ static void osnoise_hist_usage(char *usage)
 		"	  -C/--cgroup[=cgroup_name]: set cgroup, if no cgroup_name is passed, the rtla's cgroup will be inherited",
 		"	  -d/--duration time[s|m|h|d]: duration of the session",
 		"	  -D/--debug: print debug info",
-		"	  -t/--trace[=file]: save the stopped trace to [file|osnoise_trace.txt]",
+		"	  -t/--trace[file]: save the stopped trace to [file|osnoise_trace.txt]",
 		"	  -e/--event <sys:event>: enable the <sys:event> in the trace instance, multiple -e are allowed",
 		"	     --filter <filter>: enable a trace event filter to the previous -e event",
 		"	     --trigger <trigger>: enable a trace event trigger to the previous -e event",
@@ -645,9 +645,13 @@ static struct osnoise_hist_params
 			params->threshold = get_llong_from_str(optarg);
 			break;
 		case 't':
-			if (optarg)
-				/* skip = */
-				params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+			if (optarg) {
+				if (optarg[0] == '=')
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+				else
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[0];
+			} else if (optind < argc && argv[optind][0] != '0')
+				params->trace_output = argv[optind];
 			else
 				params->trace_output = "osnoise_trace.txt";
 			break;
diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_top.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_top.c
index 7e5aab22727d..07ba55d4ec06 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_top.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/osnoise_top.c
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ static void osnoise_top_usage(struct osnoise_top_params *params, char *usage)
 
 	static const char * const msg[] = {
 		" [-h] [-q] [-D] [-d s] [-a us] [-p us] [-r us] [-s us] [-S us] \\",
-		"	  [-T us] [-t[=file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] \\",
+		"	  [-T us] [-t[file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] \\",
 		"	  [-c cpu-list] [-H cpu-list] [-P priority] [-C[=cgroup_name]] [--warm-up s]",
 		"",
 		"	  -h/--help: print this menu",
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ static void osnoise_top_usage(struct osnoise_top_params *params, char *usage)
 		"	  -C/--cgroup[=cgroup_name]: set cgroup, if no cgroup_name is passed, the rtla's cgroup will be inherited",
 		"	  -d/--duration time[s|m|h|d]: duration of the session",
 		"	  -D/--debug: print debug info",
-		"	  -t/--trace[=file]: save the stopped trace to [file|osnoise_trace.txt]",
+		"	  -t/--trace[file]: save the stopped trace to [file|osnoise_trace.txt]",
 		"	  -e/--event <sys:event>: enable the <sys:event> in the trace instance, multiple -e are allowed",
 		"	     --filter <filter>: enable a trace event filter to the previous -e event",
 		"	     --trigger <trigger>: enable a trace event trigger to the previous -e event",
@@ -486,9 +486,13 @@ struct osnoise_top_params *osnoise_top_parse_args(int argc, char **argv)
 			params->stop_total_us = get_llong_from_str(optarg);
 			break;
 		case 't':
-			if (optarg)
-				/* skip = */
-				params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+			if (optarg) {
+				if (optarg[0] == '=')
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+				else
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[0];
+			} else if (optind < argc && argv[optind][0] != '-')
+				params->trace_output = argv[optind];
 			else
 				params->trace_output = "osnoise_trace.txt";
 			break;
diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c
index fbe2c6549bf9..a3907c390d67 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ static void timerlat_hist_usage(char *usage)
 	char *msg[] = {
 		"",
 		"  usage: [rtla] timerlat hist [-h] [-q] [-d s] [-D] [-n] [-a us] [-p us] [-i us] [-T us] [-s us] \\",
-		"         [-t[=file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] [-c cpu-list] [-H cpu-list]\\",
+		"         [-t[file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] [-c cpu-list] [-H cpu-list]\\",
 		"	  [-P priority] [-E N] [-b N] [--no-irq] [--no-thread] [--no-header] [--no-summary] \\",
 		"	  [--no-index] [--with-zeros] [--dma-latency us] [-C[=cgroup_name]] [--no-aa] [--dump-task] [-u|-k]",
 		"	  [--warm-up s]",
@@ -669,7 +669,7 @@ static void timerlat_hist_usage(char *usage)
 		"	  -d/--duration time[m|h|d]: duration of the session in seconds",
 		"	     --dump-tasks: prints the task running on all CPUs if stop conditions are met (depends on !--no-aa)",
 		"	  -D/--debug: print debug info",
-		"	  -t/--trace[=file]: save the stopped trace to [file|timerlat_trace.txt]",
+		"	  -t/--trace[file]: save the stopped trace to [file|timerlat_trace.txt]",
 		"	  -e/--event <sys:event>: enable the <sys:event> in the trace instance, multiple -e are allowed",
 		"	     --filter <filter>: enable a trace event filter to the previous -e event",
 		"	     --trigger <trigger>: enable a trace event trigger to the previous -e event",
@@ -885,9 +885,13 @@ static struct timerlat_hist_params
 			params->stop_total_us = get_llong_from_str(optarg);
 			break;
 		case 't':
-			if (optarg)
-				/* skip = */
-				params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+			if (optarg) {
+				if (optarg[0] == '=')
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+				else
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[0];
+			} else if (optind < argc && argv[optind][0] != '-')
+				params->trace_output = argv[optind];
 			else
 				params->trace_output = "timerlat_trace.txt";
 			break;
diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
index 3a23e8d481c6..8c16419fe22a 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@ static void timerlat_top_usage(char *usage)
 	static const char *const msg[] = {
 		"",
 		"  usage: rtla timerlat [top] [-h] [-q] [-a us] [-d s] [-D] [-n] [-p us] [-i us] [-T us] [-s us] \\",
-		"	  [[-t[=file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] [-c cpu-list] [-H cpu-list]\\",
+		"	  [[-t[file]] [-e sys[:event]] [--filter <filter>] [--trigger <trigger>] [-c cpu-list] [-H cpu-list]\\",
 		"	  [-P priority] [--dma-latency us] [--aa-only us] [-C[=cgroup_name]] [-u|-k] [--warm-up s]",
 		"",
 		"	  -h/--help: print this menu",
@@ -462,7 +462,7 @@ static void timerlat_top_usage(char *usage)
 		"	  -d/--duration time[m|h|d]: duration of the session in seconds",
 		"	  -D/--debug: print debug info",
 		"	     --dump-tasks: prints the task running on all CPUs if stop conditions are met (depends on !--no-aa)",
-		"	  -t/--trace[=file]: save the stopped trace to [file|timerlat_trace.txt]",
+		"	  -t/--trace[file]: save the stopped trace to [file|timerlat_trace.txt]",
 		"	  -e/--event <sys:event>: enable the <sys:event> in the trace instance, multiple -e are allowed",
 		"	     --filter <command>: enable a trace event filter to the previous -e event",
 		"	     --trigger <command>: enable a trace event trigger to the previous -e event",
@@ -668,9 +668,13 @@ static struct timerlat_top_params
 			params->stop_total_us = get_llong_from_str(optarg);
 			break;
 		case 't':
-			if (optarg)
-				/* skip = */
-				params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+			if (optarg) {
+				if (optarg[0] == '=')
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[1];
+				else
+					params->trace_output = &optarg[0];
+			} else if (optind < argc && argv[optind][0] != '-')
+				params->trace_output = argv[optind];
 			else
 				params->trace_output = "timerlat_trace.txt";