diff --git a/scripts/__tests__/cancel-stale-pr-ci-help.test.mjs b/scripts/__tests__/cancel-stale-pr-ci-help.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22a1395b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/__tests__/cancel-stale-pr-ci-help.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { spawnSync } from 'node:child_process';
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import { dirname, join, resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { test } from 'node:test';
+
+const HERE = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const SCRIPT = resolve(HERE, '..', 'cancel-stale-pr-ci.mjs');
+
+function runHelp(flag) {
+  const binDir = fs.mkdtempSync(join(os.tmpdir(), 'openhuman-gh-stub-'));
+  fs.writeFileSync(
+    join(binDir, 'gh'),
+    '#!/usr/bin/env sh\necho "gh should not run for help" >&2\nexit 99\n',
+    { mode: 0o755 },
+  );
+
+  return spawnSync(process.execPath, [SCRIPT, flag], {
+    encoding: 'utf8',
+    env: {
+      ...process.env,
+      PATH: `${binDir}${process.platform === 'win32' ? ';' : ':'}${process.env.PATH ?? ''}`,
+    },
+  });
+}
+
+test('cancel-stale-pr-ci help exits before invoking gh', () => {
+  for (const flag of ['--help', '-h']) {
+    const result = runHelp(flag);
+
+    assert.equal(result.status, 0, result.stderr);
+    assert.match(result.stdout, /Usage: cancel-stale-pr-ci\.mjs \[options\]/);
+    assert.match(result.stdout, /-h, --help\s+Show this message\./);
+    assert.equal(result.stderr, '');
+  }
+});
diff --git a/scripts/cancel-stale-pr-ci.mjs b/scripts/cancel-stale-pr-ci.mjs
index 276d70b08..74c30d23b 100644
--- a/scripts/cancel-stale-pr-ci.mjs
+++ b/scripts/cancel-stale-pr-ci.mjs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Options:
   --exclude-workflow <pattern>  Case-insensitive substring/regex fragment to skip.
                                 May be passed multiple times. Default: ${DEFAULT_EXCLUDE_WORKFLOW_PATTERNS.join(', ')}
   --execute                     Actually cancel matching runs.
-  --help                        Show this message.
+  -h, --help                    Show this message.
 
 Examples:
   node scripts/cancel-stale-pr-ci.mjs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
 
   for (let i = 0; i < argv.length; i += 1) {
     const arg = argv[i];
-    if (arg === '--help') {
+    if (arg === '--help' || arg === '-h') {
       printUsage();
       process.exit(0);
     }