diff --git a/parsers.c b/parsers.c
index 5ec655f..1cdd916 100644
--- a/parsers.c
+++ b/parsers.c
@@ -279,7 +279,12 @@ GHashTable *parse_generic_arg(const char *arg, gboolean sep_first)
 	i = 0;
 	hash = g_hash_table_new_full(g_str_hash, g_str_equal,
 			g_free, g_free);
-	elements = g_strsplit(arg, ":", 0);
+	/* SCPI command syntax uses the ":" character */
+	if (strncmp("command", arg, 7)) {
+		elements = g_strsplit(arg, ":", 0);
+	} else {
+		elements = g_strsplit(arg, "\n", 1);
+	}
 	if (sep_first)
 		g_hash_table_insert(hash, g_strdup("sigrok_key"),
 				g_strdup(elements[i++]));