diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 81616a19..3b621d19 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 procps-ng-NEXT
 ----------------
+  * kill: -l space between name parses correctly           Debian #854407
   * library: dont use vm_min_free on non Linux             Debian #831396
   * library: dont use SIGPWR on FreeBSD                    Debian #832148
   * library: don't strip off wchan prefixes (ps & top)     Redhat #1322111
diff --git a/kill.c b/kill.c
index b3c9a5fe..ecace65b 100644
--- a/kill.c
+++ b/kill.c
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     int signo, i, loop=1;
     long pid;
     int exitvalue = EXIT_SUCCESS;
+    int optindex;
+    char *sig_option;
 
     static const struct option longopts[] = {
         {"list", optional_argument, NULL, 'l'},
@@ -77,17 +79,23 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         signo = SIGTERM;
 
     opterr=0; /* suppress errors on -123 */
-    while (loop == 1 && (i = getopt_long(argc, argv, "l::Ls:hV", longopts, NULL)) != -1)
+    while (loop == 1 && (i = getopt_long(argc, argv, "l::Ls:hV", longopts, &optindex)) != -1)
         switch (i) {
         case 'l':
+            sig_option = NULL;
             if (optarg) {
+                sig_option = optarg;
+            } else if (argv[optind] != NULL && argv[optind][0] != '-') {
+                sig_option = argv[optind];
+            }
+            if (sig_option) {
                 char *s;
-                s = strtosig(optarg);
+                s = strtosig(sig_option);
                 if (s)
                     printf("%s\n", s);
                 else
                     xwarnx(_("unknown signal name %s"),
-                          optarg);
+                          sig_option);
                 free(s);
             } else {
                 unix_print_signals();
diff --git a/lib/signals.c b/lib/signals.c
index d85c1fd9..fbf3dc73 100644
--- a/lib/signals.c
+++ b/lib/signals.c
@@ -240,9 +240,10 @@ char *strtosig(const char *restrict s)
         p += 3;
     if (isdigit(*p)){
         numsignal = strtol(s,&endp,10);
-        if(*endp || endp==s)
+        if(*endp || endp==s){
             free(p);
-        return NULL; /* not valid */
+            return NULL; /* not valid */
+        }
     }
     if (numsignal){
         for (i = 0; i < number_of_signals; i++){
diff --git a/testsuite/kill.test/kill.exp b/testsuite/kill.test/kill.exp
index 211395c9..1948517f 100644
--- a/testsuite/kill.test/kill.exp
+++ b/testsuite/kill.test/kill.exp
@@ -20,15 +20,28 @@ set test "kill list signal names in table"
 spawn $kill -L
 expect_pass "$test" "^\(\\s+\\d+ \[A-Z12+-\]+\)+\\s*$"
 
-set test "kill convert signal name to number"
+set test "kill convert signal name to number no space"
 spawn  $kill -lHUP
 expect_pass "$test" "^1\\s*"
 
-set test "kill convert SIG-prefixed signal name to number"
+set test "kill convert signal name to number with space"
+spawn  $kill -l HUP
+expect_pass "$test" "^1\\s*"
+
+set test "kill convert SIG-prefixed signal name to number no space"
 spawn  $kill -lSIGHUP
 expect_pass "$test" "^1\\s*$"
 
-set test "kill convert signal number to name"
+set test "kill convert SIG-prefixed signal name to number with space"
+spawn  $kill -l SIGHUP
+
+expect_pass "$test" "^1\\s*$"
+
+set test "kill convert signal number to name no space"
+spawn  $kill -l1
+expect_pass "$test" "^HUP\\s*"
+
+set test "kill convert signal number to name with space"
 spawn  $kill -l 1
 expect_pass "$test" "^HUP\\s*"