diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb b/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb
index 24d70cb1f8..1300583272 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb
@@ -103,6 +103,16 @@ module HomebrewArgvExtension
     return false
   end
 
+  # eg. `foo -ns -i --bar` has three switches, n, s and i
+  def switch? switch_character
+    return false if switch_character.length > 1
+    options_only.each do |arg|
+      next if arg[1..1] == '-'
+      return true if arg.include? switch_character
+    end
+    return false
+  end
+
   def usage
     require 'cmd/help'
     Homebrew.help_s
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_ARGV.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_ARGV.rb
index 134921dca4..7832f71e41 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_ARGV.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_ARGV.rb
@@ -29,5 +29,20 @@ class ARGVTests < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal 1, ARGV.kegs.length
     assert_raises(FormulaUnavailableError) { ARGV.formulae }
   end
-  
+
+  def test_switch?
+    ARGV.reset
+    ARGV.unshift "-ns"
+    ARGV.unshift "-i"
+    ARGV.unshift "--bar"
+    assert ARGV.switch?('n')
+    assert ARGV.switch?('s')
+    assert ARGV.switch?('i')
+    assert !ARGV.switch?('b')
+    assert !ARGV.switch?('ns')
+    assert !ARGV.switch?('bar')
+    assert !ARGV.switch?('--bar')
+    assert !ARGV.switch?('-n')
+  end
+
 end