diff --git a/hgext/keyword.py b/hgext/keyword.py
--- a/hgext/keyword.py
+++ b/hgext/keyword.py
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ cmdtable = {
     'kwdemo':
         (demo,
          [('d', 'default', None, _('show default keyword template maps')),
-          ('f', 'rcfile', [], _('read maps from rcfile'))],
+          ('f', 'rcfile', '', _('read maps from rcfile'))],
          _('hg kwdemo [-d] [-f RCFILE] [TEMPLATEMAP]...')),
     'kwexpand': (expand, commands.walkopts,
                  _('hg kwexpand [OPTION]... [FILE]...')),