diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4b4913252..39b488e14 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2025-04-19  dana  <dana@dana.is>
+
+	* 53482: Src/Modules/zutil.c,
+	Src/Modules/Test/V12zparseopts.ztst: with `zparseopts -G`,
+	always add options options with optional args to array with =
+
 2025-04-15  Bart Schaefer  <schaefer@zsh.org>
 
 	* 53454: Src/hist.c: fix interrupt handling in savehistfile()
diff --git a/Src/Modules/zutil.c b/Src/Modules/zutil.c
index 9b2721a09..ef99303d2 100644
--- a/Src/Modules/zutil.c
+++ b/Src/Modules/zutil.c
@@ -1662,15 +1662,15 @@ add_opt_val(Zoptdesc d, char *arg)
 	v->str = NULL;
 	if (d->arr)
 	    d->arr->num += (arg ? 2 : 1);
-    } else if (arg) {
+    } else if (arg || d->flags & ZOF_GNUL) {
 	/* 3 here is '-' + '=' + NUL */
-	char *s = (char *) zhalloc(strlen(d->name) + strlen(arg) + 3);
+	char *s = (char *) zhalloc(strlen(d->name) + strlen(arg ? arg : "") + 3);
 
 	*s = '-';
 	strcpy(s + 1, d->name);
 	if (d->flags & ZOF_GNUL)
 	    strcat(s, "=");
-	strcat(s, arg);
+	strcat(s, arg ? arg : "");
 	v->str = s;
 	if (d->arr)
 	    d->arr->num += 1;
diff --git a/Test/V12zparseopts.ztst b/Test/V12zparseopts.ztst
index a2743ea0e..e465d0e0c 100644
--- a/Test/V12zparseopts.ztst
+++ b/Test/V12zparseopts.ztst
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@
 0:zparseopts -G, separate parameters
 >ret: 0, optv: --foo bar, argv: 1 2 3
 >ret: 0, optv: --foo=bar, argv: 1 2 3
->ret: 0, optv: --foo, argv: bar 1 2 3
+>ret: 0, optv: --foo=, argv: bar 1 2 3
 
   for spec in -foo: -foo:- -foo::; do
     () {
@@ -340,4 +340,4 @@
 ?(anon):zparseopts:2: bad option: -f
 >ret: 1, gopt: -G, optv: , argv: -foobar 1 2 3
 >ret: 0, gopt: -G, optv: -foo=bar, argv: 1 2 3
->ret: 0, gopt: -G, optv: -foo, argv: bar 1 2 3
+>ret: 0, gopt: -G, optv: -foo=, argv: bar 1 2 3