diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index bd6e3d7..972358a 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -68,12 +68,6 @@ version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "37b2a672a2cb129a2e41c10b1224bb368f9f37a2b16b612598138befd7b37eb5"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "cc"
-version = "1.0.78"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a20104e2335ce8a659d6dd92a51a767a0c062599c73b343fd152cb401e828c3d"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "cfg-if"
 version = "1.0.0"
@@ -113,23 +107,13 @@ version = "3.2.23"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "71655c45cb9845d3270c9d6df84ebe72b4dad3c2ba3f7023ad47c144e4e473a5"
 dependencies = [
+ "atty",
  "bitflags",
- "clap_lex 0.2.4",
+ "clap_lex",
  "indexmap",
- "textwrap",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "clap"
-version = "4.0.32"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "a7db700bc935f9e43e88d00b0850dae18a63773cfbec6d8e070fccf7fef89a39"
-dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
- "clap_lex 0.3.0",
- "is-terminal",
  "strsim",
  "termcolor",
+ "textwrap",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -141,15 +125,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "os_str_bytes",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "clap_lex"
-version = "0.3.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "0d4198f73e42b4936b35b5bb248d81d2b595ecb170da0bac7655c54eedfa8da8"
-dependencies = [
- "os_str_bytes",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "criterion"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -160,7 +135,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "atty",
  "cast",
  "ciborium",
- "clap 3.2.23",
+ "clap",
  "criterion-plot",
  "itertools",
  "lazy_static",
@@ -235,27 +210,6 @@ version = "1.8.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "90e5c1c8368803113bf0c9584fc495a58b86dc8a29edbf8fe877d21d9507e797"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "errno"
-version = "0.2.8"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f639046355ee4f37944e44f60642c6f3a7efa3cf6b78c78a0d989a8ce6c396a1"
-dependencies = [
- "errno-dragonfly",
- "libc",
- "winapi",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "errno-dragonfly"
-version = "0.1.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "aa68f1b12764fab894d2755d2518754e71b4fd80ecfb822714a1206c2aab39bf"
-dependencies = [
- "cc",
- "libc",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "half"
 version = "1.8.2"
@@ -296,28 +250,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "hashbrown",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "io-lifetimes"
-version = "1.0.3"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "46112a93252b123d31a119a8d1a1ac19deac4fac6e0e8b0df58f0d4e5870e63c"
-dependencies = [
- "libc",
- "windows-sys",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "is-terminal"
-version = "0.4.2"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "28dfb6c8100ccc63462345b67d1bbc3679177c75ee4bf59bf29c8b1d110b8189"
-dependencies = [
- "hermit-abi 0.2.6",
- "io-lifetimes",
- "rustix",
- "windows-sys",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "itertools"
 version = "0.10.5"
@@ -354,12 +286,6 @@ version = "0.2.139"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "201de327520df007757c1f0adce6e827fe8562fbc28bfd9c15571c66ca1f5f79"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "linux-raw-sys"
-version = "0.1.4"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f051f77a7c8e6957c0696eac88f26b0117e54f52d3fc682ab19397a8812846a4"
-
 [[package]]
 name = "log"
 version = "0.4.17"
@@ -421,7 +347,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "alpm",
  "anyhow",
- "clap 4.0.32",
+ "clap",
  "criterion",
 ]
 
@@ -514,20 +440,6 @@ version = "0.6.28"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "456c603be3e8d448b072f410900c09faf164fbce2d480456f50eea6e25f9c848"
 
-[[package]]
-name = "rustix"
-version = "0.36.6"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "4feacf7db682c6c329c4ede12649cd36ecab0f3be5b7d74e6a20304725db4549"
-dependencies = [
- "bitflags",
- "errno",
- "io-lifetimes",
- "libc",
- "linux-raw-sys",
- "windows-sys",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.12"
@@ -733,60 +645,3 @@ name = "winapi-x86_64-pc-windows-gnu"
 version = "0.4.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "712e227841d057c1ee1cd2fb22fa7e5a5461ae8e48fa2ca79ec42cfc1931183f"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows-sys"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "5a3e1820f08b8513f676f7ab6c1f99ff312fb97b553d30ff4dd86f9f15728aa7"
-dependencies = [
- "windows_aarch64_gnullvm",
- "windows_aarch64_msvc",
- "windows_i686_gnu",
- "windows_i686_msvc",
- "windows_x86_64_gnu",
- "windows_x86_64_gnullvm",
- "windows_x86_64_msvc",
-]
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_aarch64_gnullvm"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "41d2aa71f6f0cbe00ae5167d90ef3cfe66527d6f613ca78ac8024c3ccab9a19e"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_aarch64_msvc"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "dd0f252f5a35cac83d6311b2e795981f5ee6e67eb1f9a7f64eb4500fbc4dcdb4"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_i686_gnu"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "fbeae19f6716841636c28d695375df17562ca208b2b7d0dc47635a50ae6c5de7"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_i686_msvc"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "84c12f65daa39dd2babe6e442988fc329d6243fdce47d7d2d155b8d874862246"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_x86_64_gnu"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "bf7b1b21b5362cbc318f686150e5bcea75ecedc74dd157d874d754a2ca44b0ed"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_x86_64_gnullvm"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "09d525d2ba30eeb3297665bd434a54297e4170c7f1a44cad4ef58095b4cd2028"
-
-[[package]]
-name = "windows_x86_64_msvc"
-version = "0.42.0"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "f40009d85759725a34da6d89a94e63d7bdc50a862acf0dbc7c8e488f1edcb6f5"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 19e424c..92e9590 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ edition = "2021"
 [dependencies]
 alpm = "*"
 anyhow = "*"
-clap = "*"
+# clap 4 until (at least) 4.0.32 have scrapped actual color support. we stay on 3.x until that's fixed.
+clap = "3.*"
 
 [profile.release]
 debug = true
diff --git a/src/args.rs b/src/args.rs
index 97d2e1b..5de32b1 100644
--- a/src/args.rs
+++ b/src/args.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ use clap::{Arg, Command};
 
 use crate::action::*;
 
-fn get_arg_parser() -> Command {
-    Command::new("pacdef")
+fn get_arg_parser() -> Command<'static> {
+    let result = Command::new("pacdef")
         .about("declarative package manager for Arch Linux")
         .version("1.0.0-alpha")
         .subcommand_required(true)
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ fn get_arg_parser() -> Command {
             Command::new(EDIT)
                 .about("edit one or more existing group files")
                 .arg_required_else_help(true)
-                .arg(Arg::new("group").num_args(0..)),
+                .arg(Arg::new("group").multiple_values(true)),
         )
         .subcommand(Command::new(GROUPS).about("show names of imported groups"))
         .subcommand(Command::new(SYNC).about("install packages from all imported groups"))
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ fn get_arg_parser() -> Command {
             Command::new(UNMANAGED)
                 .about("show explicitly installed packages not managed by pacdef"),
         )
-        .subcommand(Command::new(VERSION).about("show version info"))
+        .subcommand(Command::new(VERSION).about("show version info"));
+    result
 }
 
 pub fn get_args() -> clap::ArgMatches {