diff --git a/lib/cli.py b/lib/cli.py
index 8cfbeabbad727f041e11d01715effd69d63b6803..62fa111cce0a8a25aad61e07f4723196f73b4681 100644
--- a/lib/cli.py
+++ b/lib/cli.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ __all__ = ["DEBUG_OPT", "NOHDR_OPT", "SEP_OPT", "GenericMain", "SubmitOpCode",
            "ARGS_NONE", "ARGS_FIXED", "ARGS_ATLEAST", "ARGS_ANY", "ARGS_ONE",
            "USEUNITS_OPT", "FIELDS_OPT", "FORCE_OPT",
            "ListTags", "AddTags", "RemoveTags", "TAG_SRC_OPT",
-           "FormatError",
+           "FormatError", "SplitNodeOption"
            ]
 
 
@@ -179,6 +179,7 @@ _LOCK_OPT = make_option("--lock-retries", default=None,
 TAG_SRC_OPT = make_option("--from", dest="tags_source",
                           default=None, help="File with tag names")
 
+
 def ARGS_FIXED(val):
   """Macro-like function denoting a fixed number of arguments"""
   return -val
@@ -286,6 +287,16 @@ def _ParseArgs(argv, commands):
   return func, options, args
 
 
+def SplitNodeOption(value):
+  """Splits the value of a --node option.
+
+  """
+  if value and ':' in value:
+    return value.split(':', 1)
+  else:
+    return (value, None)
+
+
 def AskUser(text, choices=None):
   """Ask the user a question.
 
diff --git a/scripts/gnt-backup b/scripts/gnt-backup
index dce8ecd56870096eaa233e9a97e2bd16c7e20e80..6f4555cf51c3adc708d19440320a807fcea068c9 100755
--- a/scripts/gnt-backup
+++ b/scripts/gnt-backup
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ def ExportInstance(opts, args):
 
   SubmitOpCode(op)
 
+
 def ImportInstance(opts, args):
   """Add an instance to the cluster.
 
@@ -84,11 +85,13 @@ def ImportInstance(opts, args):
   """
   instance = args[0]
 
+  (pnode, snode) = SplitNodeOption(opts.node)
+
   op = opcodes.OpCreateInstance(instance_name=instance, mem_size=opts.mem,
                                 disk_size=opts.size, swap_size=opts.swap,
                                 disk_template=opts.disk_template,
                                 mode=constants.INSTANCE_IMPORT,
-                                pnode=opts.node, snode=opts.snode,
+                                pnode=pnode, snode=snode,
                                 vcpus=opts.vcpus, ip_check=opts.ip_check,
                                 ip=opts.ip, bridge=opts.bridge, start=False,
                                 src_node=opts.src_node, src_path=opts.src_dir,
@@ -97,14 +100,12 @@ def ImportInstance(opts, args):
   return 0
 
 
-# options used in more than one cmd
-node_opt = make_option("-n", "--node", dest="node", help="Target node",
-                       metavar="<node>")
-
 # this is defined separately due to readability only
 import_opts = [
   DEBUG_OPT,
-  node_opt,
+  make_option("-n", "--node", dest="node",
+              help="Target node and optional secondary node",
+              metavar="<pnode>[:<snode>]"),
   cli_option("-s", "--os-size", dest="size", help="Disk size",
              default=20 * 1024, type="unit", metavar="<size>"),
   cli_option("--swap-size", dest="swap", help="Swap size",
@@ -121,9 +122,6 @@ import_opts = [
               default='none', type="string", metavar="<ADDRESS>"),
   make_option("--no-wait-for-sync", dest="wait_for_sync", default=True,
               action="store_false", help="Don't wait for sync (DANGEROUS!)"),
-  make_option("--secondary-node", dest="snode",
-              help="Secondary node for remote_raid1 disk layout",
-              metavar="<node>"),
   make_option("-b", "--bridge", dest="bridge",
               help="Bridge to connect this instance to",
               default=None, metavar="<bridge>"),
@@ -144,7 +142,9 @@ commands = {
             ],
            "", "Lists instance exports available in the ganeti cluster"),
   'export': (ExportInstance, ARGS_ONE,
-             [node_opt, DEBUG_OPT, FORCE_OPT,
+             [DEBUG_OPT, FORCE_OPT,
+              make_option("-n", "--node", dest="node", help="Target node",
+                          metavar="<node>"),
               make_option("","--noshutdown", dest="shutdown",
                           action="store_false", default=True,
                           help="Don't shutdown the instance (unsafe)"), ],
diff --git a/scripts/gnt-instance b/scripts/gnt-instance
index b101430ef53241fe0293091fabb893f9a6ddd96d..56b8662c60491b3bcf7870ae8551d12c784b8235 100755
--- a/scripts/gnt-instance
+++ b/scripts/gnt-instance
@@ -216,12 +216,14 @@ def AddInstance(opts, args):
   """
   instance = args[0]
 
+  (pnode, snode) = SplitNodeOption(opts.node)
+
   op = opcodes.OpCreateInstance(instance_name=instance, mem_size=opts.mem,
                                 disk_size=opts.size, swap_size=opts.swap,
                                 disk_template=opts.disk_template,
                                 mode=constants.INSTANCE_CREATE,
-                                os_type=opts.os, pnode=opts.node,
-                                snode=opts.snode, vcpus=opts.vcpus,
+                                os_type=opts.os, pnode=pnode,
+                                snode=snode, vcpus=opts.vcpus,
                                 ip=opts.ip, bridge=opts.bridge,
                                 start=opts.start, ip_check=opts.ip_check,
                                 wait_for_sync=opts.wait_for_sync)
@@ -674,7 +676,9 @@ m_inst_opt = make_option("--instance", dest="multi_mode",
 # this is defined separately due to readability only
 add_opts = [
   DEBUG_OPT,
-  node_opt,
+  make_option("-n", "--node", dest="node",
+              help="Target node and optional secondary node",
+              metavar="<pnode>[:<snode>]"),
   cli_option("-s", "--os-size", dest="size", help="Disk size, in MiB unless"
              " a suffix is used",
              default=20 * 1024, type="unit", metavar="<size>"),
@@ -694,9 +698,6 @@ add_opts = [
               default='none', type="string", metavar="<ADDRESS>"),
   make_option("--no-wait-for-sync", dest="wait_for_sync", default=True,
               action="store_false", help="Don't wait for sync (DANGEROUS!)"),
-  make_option("--secondary-node", dest="snode",
-              help="Secondary node for remote_raid1 disk layout",
-              metavar="<node>"),
   make_option("-b", "--bridge", dest="bridge",
               help="Bridge to connect this instance to",
               default=None, metavar="<bridge>"),