diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/graph.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/graph.py
index 3f7ab8bc2f6f336df6d5cf52987c8661b6a2da72..ed3aed19463cf8d012f9670d1ebc5c6687687f53 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/graph.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/graph.py
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ def setup_parser(subparser):
 
     method = subparser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
     method.add_argument(
-        '--ascii', action='store_true',
+        '-a', '--ascii', action='store_true',
         help="Draw graph as ascii to stdout (default).")
     method.add_argument(
-        '--dot', action='store_true',
+        '-d', '--dot', action='store_true',
         help="Generate graph in dot format and print to stdout.")
 
     subparser.add_argument(
-        '--normalize', action='store_true',
+        '-n', '--normalize', action='store_true',
         help="Skip concretization; only print normalized spec.")
 
     subparser.add_argument(