diff --git a/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate.pm b/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate.pm
index f129dc10c8..a3b14b43d4 100644
--- a/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate.pm
+++ b/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate.pm
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate - Generator command
   Usage: APPLICATION generate GENERATOR [OPTIONS]
 
     mojo generate app
-    mojo generate lite_app
+    mojo generate lite-app
 
 =head1 DESCRIPTION
 
diff --git a/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate/lite_app.pm b/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate/lite_app.pm
index c8a5a13044..296b3372bc 100644
--- a/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate/lite_app.pm
+++ b/lib/Mojolicious/Command/Author/generate/lite_app.pm
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::lite_app - Lite app generator command
 
 =head1 SYNOPSIS
 
-  Usage: APPLICATION generate lite_app [OPTIONS] [NAME]
+  Usage: APPLICATION generate lite-app [OPTIONS] [NAME]
 
-    mojo generate lite_app
-    mojo generate lite_app foo.pl
+    mojo generate lite-app
+    mojo generate lite-app foo.pl
 
   Options:
     -h, --help   Show this summary of available options
diff --git a/lib/Mojolicious/Commands.pm b/lib/Mojolicious/Commands.pm
index 8347f257ea..f9e8fd36a2 100644
--- a/lib/Mojolicious/Commands.pm
+++ b/lib/Mojolicious/Commands.pm
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ sub run {
   if (!$ENV{MOJO_NO_DETECT} && (my $env = $self->detect)) { $name = $env }
 
   # Run command
-  if ($name && $name =~ /^\w+$/ && ($name ne 'help' || $args[0])) {
+  if ($name && $name =~ /^\w[\w-]+$/ && ($name ne 'help' || $args[0])) {
+    $name =~ s/-/_/g;
 
     # Help
     $name = shift @args if my $help = $name eq 'help';
@@ -68,7 +69,12 @@ sub run {
       for grep { _command($_) } find_modules($ns), find_packages($ns);
   }
 
-  my @rows = map { [" $_", $all{$_}] } sort keys %all;
+  my @rows;
+  for my $class (sort keys %all) {
+    my $command = $class;
+    $command =~ s/(?<!^)_/-/g;
+    push @rows, [" $command", $all{$class}];
+  }
   return print $self->message, tablify(\@rows), $self->hint;
 }
 
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@ Mojolicious::Commands - Command line interface
   Usage: APPLICATION COMMAND [OPTIONS]
 
     mojo version
-    mojo generate lite_app
+    mojo generate lite-app
     ./myapp.pl daemon -m production -l http://*:8080
     ./myapp.pl get /foo
     ./myapp.pl routes -v
@@ -177,9 +183,9 @@ List available options for generator command with short descriptions.
 Use L<Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::app> to generate application
 directory structure for a fully functional L<Mojolicious> application.
 
-=head2 generate lite_app
+=head2 generate lite-app
 
-  $ mojo generate lite_app
+  $ mojo generate lite-app
 
 Use L<Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::lite_app> to generate a fully
 functional L<Mojolicious::Lite> application.
diff --git a/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Cookbook.pod b/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Cookbook.pod
index 8b623ea8ec..ef06efda4b 100644
--- a/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Cookbook.pod
+++ b/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Cookbook.pod
@@ -1797,7 +1797,7 @@ application to test something? Thanks to the command
 L<Mojolicious::Command::eval> you can do just that, the application object
 itself can be accessed via C<app>.
 
-  $ mojo generate lite_app myapp.pl
+  $ mojo generate lite-app myapp.pl
   $ ./myapp.pl eval 'say for @{app->static->paths}'
   $ ./myapp.pl eval 'say for sort keys %{app->renderer->helpers}'
 
diff --git a/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Growing.pod b/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Growing.pod
index 41d1af24eb..4ce80292b8 100644
--- a/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Growing.pod
+++ b/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Growing.pod
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ Both application skeletons can be automatically generated with the commands
 L<Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::lite_app> and
 L<Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::app>.
 
-  $ mojo generate lite_app myapp.pl
+  $ mojo generate lite-app myapp.pl
   $ mojo generate app MyApp
 
 Feature-wise both are almost equal, the only real differences are
diff --git a/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Tutorial.pod b/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Tutorial.pod
index d8e839166f..612adc262f 100644
--- a/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Tutorial.pod
+++ b/lib/Mojolicious/Guides/Tutorial.pod
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ L<Mojolicious::Lite>, turning your script into a full featured web application.
 With L<Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::lite_app> there is also a helper
 command to generate a small example application.
 
-  $ mojo generate lite_app myapp.pl
+  $ mojo generate lite-app myapp.pl
 
 =head2 Commands
 
diff --git a/t/mojolicious/commands.t b/t/mojolicious/commands.t
index 7c68f1a963..5d94a0dc84 100644
--- a/t/mojolicious/commands.t
+++ b/t/mojolicious/commands.t
@@ -71,18 +71,48 @@ is ref Mojolicious::Commands->new->run('psgi'), 'CODE', 'right reference';
     'right reference';
 }
 
-# Start application with application specific command
+# Start application with application specific commands
 my $app;
 {
   local $ENV{MOJO_APP_LOADER} = 1;
   $app = Mojolicious::Commands->start_app('MojoliciousTest');
 }
-is $app->start('test_command'), 'works!', 'right result';
+is $app->start('test_command'),   'works!',   'right result';
+is $app->start('test-command'),   'works!',   'right result';
+is $app->start('_test2-command'), 'works 2!', 'right result';
 {
   is(Mojolicious::Commands->start_app(MojoliciousTest => 'test_command'),
     'works!', 'right result');
+  is(Mojolicious::Commands->start_app(MojoliciousTest => 'test-command'),
+    'works!', 'right result');
+  is(Mojolicious::Commands->start_app(MojoliciousTest => '_test2-command'),
+    'works 2!', 'right result');
 }
 
+# Application specific help
+my $buffer = '';
+{
+  open my $handle, '>', \$buffer;
+  local *STDOUT = $handle;
+  local $ENV{HARNESS_ACTIVE} = 0;
+  $app->start;
+}
+like $buffer,
+  qr/Usage: APPLICATION COMMAND \[OPTIONS\].*_test2-command.*cgi.*test-comm/s,
+  'right output';
+
+# Commands starting with a dash are not allowed
+$buffer = '';
+{
+  open my $handle, '>', \$buffer;
+  local *STDOUT = $handle;
+  local $ENV{HARNESS_ACTIVE} = 0;
+  $app->start('-test2-command');
+}
+like $buffer,
+  qr/Usage: APPLICATION COMMAND \[OPTIONS\].*_test2-command.*cgi.*test-comm/s,
+  'right output';
+
 # Do not pick up options for detected environments
 {
   local $ENV{MOJO_MODE};
@@ -99,7 +129,7 @@ is_deeply $commands->namespaces,
 ok $commands->description, 'has a description';
 like $commands->message,   qr/COMMAND/, 'has a message';
 like $commands->hint,      qr/help/, 'has a hint';
-my $buffer = '';
+$buffer = '';
 {
   open my $handle, '>', \$buffer;
   local *STDOUT = $handle;
@@ -107,19 +137,19 @@ my $buffer = '';
   $commands->run;
 }
 like $buffer,
-  qr/Usage: APPLICATION COMMAND \[OPTIONS\].*daemon.*my_test_command.*version/s,
+  qr/Usage: APPLICATION COMMAND \[OPTIONS\].*daemon.*my-test-command.*version/s,
   'right output';
 like $buffer,   qr/See, it works/,        'description has been picked up';
-unlike $buffer, qr/my_fake_test_command/, 'fake command has been ignored';
+unlike $buffer, qr/my-fake-test-command/, 'fake command has been ignored';
 
 # help
 $buffer = '';
 {
   open my $handle, '>', \$buffer;
   local *STDOUT = $handle;
-  $commands->run('help', 'generate', 'lite_app');
+  $commands->run('help', 'generate', 'lite-app');
 }
-like $buffer, qr/Usage: APPLICATION generate lite_app \[OPTIONS\] \[NAME\]/,
+like $buffer, qr/Usage: APPLICATION generate lite-app \[OPTIONS\] \[NAME\]/,
   'right output';
 $buffer = '';
 {
@@ -133,9 +163,9 @@ $buffer = '';
 {
   open my $handle, '>', \$buffer;
   local *STDOUT = $handle;
-  $commands->run('generate', 'lite_app', '--help');
+  $commands->run('generate', 'lite-app', '--help');
 }
-like $buffer, qr/Usage: APPLICATION generate lite_app \[OPTIONS\] \[NAME\]/,
+like $buffer, qr/Usage: APPLICATION generate lite-app \[OPTIONS\] \[NAME\]/,
   'right output';
 
 # get
@@ -245,7 +275,7 @@ $buffer = '';
   $generator->run;
 }
 like $buffer,
-  qr/Usage: APPLICATION generate GENERATOR \[OPTIONS\].*lite_app.*plugin/s,
+  qr/Usage: APPLICATION generate GENERATOR \[OPTIONS\].*lite-app.*plugin/s,
   'right output';
 
 # generate app
@@ -280,7 +310,7 @@ chdir $cwd;
 require Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::lite_app;
 $app = Mojolicious::Command::Author::generate::lite_app->new;
 ok $app->description, 'has a description';
-like $app->usage, qr/lite_app/, 'has usage information';
+like $app->usage, qr/lite-app/, 'has usage information';
 $dir = tempdir CLEANUP => 1;
 chdir $dir;
 $buffer = '';
diff --git a/t/mojolicious/lib/MojoliciousTest/Command/_test2_command.pm b/t/mojolicious/lib/MojoliciousTest/Command/_test2_command.pm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ba041e8640
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/mojolicious/lib/MojoliciousTest/Command/_test2_command.pm
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+package MojoliciousTest::Command::_test2_command;
+use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious::Command';
+
+sub run {'works 2!'}
+
+1;