This only happens for short options, not when an option has either both a short and a long option or just long options.
The help message looks like this. Note the double = and the missing opening square bracket [ in the options list:
Usage: <main class> [-f[=FILE...]] [-P[=KEY=VALUE...]]
-f= =FILE...] files
-P= =KEY=VALUE...] Project properties (key-value pairs)
When a long option is specified, or arity=1, things look okay:
Usage: <main class> [-f=FILE] [-P[=KEY=VALUE...]]
-f= FILE a file
-P, --properties[=KEY=VALUE...]
Project properties (key-value pairs)