diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 784f450..3183c0c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ $ loadenv | tail -n 1
 USERNAME=$USER # contains literal "$USER" instead of "my-username"
 ```
 
-Use `-e` to expand variables in such cases:
+Use `-r` to expand variables in such cases:
 
 ```sh
 $ env | grep USER # current value of $USER
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 0354ca6..62d3b37 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ var (
 
 var ( // flags
 	FlagEnvFilePath       = flag.String("f", ".env", "environment file")
-	FlagExpandRecursively = flag.Bool("e", false, "expand references in reference definitions")
+	FlagExpandRecursively = flag.Bool("r", false, "expand references in reference definitions")
 
 	FlagExpandEnvFiles = SliceFlag{}
 )