diff --git a/WHATS_NEW b/WHATS_NEW
index c5cbf378f..090e914a2 100644
--- a/WHATS_NEW
+++ b/WHATS_NEW
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 Version 2.02.107 - 
 ==================================
+  Make reporting commands show help about possible sort keys on '-O help'.
   Add metadata_percent to lvs_cols.
   Take account of parity areas with alloc anywhere in _calc_required_extents.
   Use proper uint64 casting for calculation of cache metadata size.
diff --git a/WHATS_NEW_DM b/WHATS_NEW_DM
index c81d354a1..6304ff614 100644
--- a/WHATS_NEW_DM
+++ b/WHATS_NEW_DM
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 Version 1.02.88 - 
 =================================
+  Also recognize 'help'/'?' as reserved sort key name to show help.
+  Export recognized DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_{HELP,HELP_ALT} to show help.
   Add dm_units_to_factor for size unit parsing.
   Increase bitset size for minors for thin dmeventd plugin.
 
diff --git a/libdm/libdevmapper.h b/libdm/libdevmapper.h
index 8ffa14545..d63b135a0 100644
--- a/libdm/libdevmapper.h
+++ b/libdm/libdevmapper.h
@@ -1601,6 +1601,10 @@ struct dm_report_field;
 #define DM_REPORT_FIELD_TYPE_ID_LEN 32
 #define DM_REPORT_FIELD_TYPE_HEADING_LEN 32
 
+/* Reserved field names for special purposes. */
+#define DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP "help"  /* shows help */
+#define DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP_ALT "?" /* shows help */
+
 struct dm_report;
 struct dm_report_field_type {
 	uint32_t type;		/* object type id */
diff --git a/libdm/libdm-report.c b/libdm/libdm-report.c
index 7e8484e80..f3395a71a 100644
--- a/libdm/libdm-report.c
+++ b/libdm/libdm-report.c
@@ -529,7 +529,8 @@ static int _parse_fields(struct dm_report *rh, const char *format,
 		if (!_field_match(rh, ws, (size_t) (we - ws), report_type_only)) {
 			_display_fields(rh);
 			log_warn(" ");
-			if (strcasecmp(ws, "help") && strcmp(ws, "?"))
+			if (strcasecmp(ws, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP) &&
+			    strcmp(ws, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP_ALT))
 				log_error("Unrecognised field: %.*s",
 					  (int) (we - ws), ws);
 			return 0;
@@ -556,8 +557,12 @@ static int _parse_keys(struct dm_report *rh, const char *keys,
 		while (*we && *we != ',')
 			we++;
 		if (!_key_match(rh, ws, (size_t) (we - ws), report_type_only)) {
-			log_error("dm_report: Unrecognised field: %.*s",
-				  (int) (we - ws), ws);
+			_display_fields(rh);
+			log_warn(" ");
+			if (strcasecmp(ws, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP) &&
+			    strcmp(ws, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP_ALT))
+				log_error("dm_report: Unrecognised field: %.*s",
+					  (int) (we - ws), ws);
 			return 0;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/tools/reporter.c b/tools/reporter.c
index 2591fd5b2..b4a0c0b1d 100644
--- a/tools/reporter.c
+++ b/tools/reporter.c
@@ -370,7 +370,10 @@ static int _report(struct cmd_context *cmd, int argc, char **argv,
 					  separator, aligned, buffered,
 					  headings, field_prefixes, quoted,
 					  columns_as_rows))) {
-		if (!strcasecmp(options, "help") || !strcmp(options, "?"))
+		if ( (!strcasecmp(options, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP) ||
+		      !strcmp(options, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP_ALT)) ||
+		     (!strcasecmp(keys, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP) ||
+		      !strcmp(keys, DM_REPORT_FIELD_RESERVED_NAME_HELP_ALT)) )
 			return r;
 		return_ECMD_FAILED;
 	}