diff --git a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/AlternateSubsystems.cs b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/AlternateSubsystems.cs
index abab37351b..9a95aecb28 100644
--- a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/AlternateSubsystems.cs
+++ b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/AlternateSubsystems.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,15 @@ protected override void Execute(PipelineResult pipelineResult)
             }
         }
 
+        internal class AlternateHelp : HelpSubsystem
+        {
+            protected override void Execute(PipelineResult pipelineResult)
+            {
+                pipelineResult.ConsoleHack.WriteLine("***Help me!***");
+                pipelineResult.SetSuccess();
+            }
+        }
+
         internal class VersionThatUsesHelpData : VersionSubsystem
         {
             // for testing, this class accepts a symbol and accesses its description
diff --git a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/HelpSubsystemTests.cs b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/HelpSubsystemTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c7d1890668
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/HelpSubsystemTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Copyright (c) .NET Foundation and contributors. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE file in the project root for full license information.
+
+using FluentAssertions;
+using Xunit;
+using System.CommandLine.Parsing;
+
+namespace System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests;
+
+public class HelpSubsystemTests
+{
+    [Fact]
+    public void When_help_subsystem_is_used_the_help_option_is_added_to_each_command_in_the_tree()
+    {
+        var rootCommand = new CliRootCommand
+            {
+                new CliOption<bool>("-x"), // add option that is expected for the test data used here
+                new CliCommand("a")
+            };
+        var configuration = new CliConfiguration(rootCommand);
+
+        var pipeline = Pipeline.CreateEmpty();
+        pipeline.Help = new HelpSubsystem();
+
+        // Parse is used because directly calling Initialize would be unusual
+        var result = pipeline.Parse(configuration, "");
+
+        rootCommand.Options
+            .Count(x => x.Name == "--help")
+            .Should()
+            .Be(1);
+        var subcommand = rootCommand.Subcommands.First();
+        subcommand.Options
+            .Count(x => x.Name == "--help")
+            .Should()
+            .Be(1);
+    }
+
+    [Theory]
+    [ClassData(typeof(TestData.Help))]
+    public void Help_is_activated_only_when_requested(string input, bool result)
+    {
+        CliRootCommand rootCommand = [new CliOption<bool>("-x")]; // add random option as empty CLIs are rare
+        var configuration = new CliConfiguration(rootCommand);
+        var helpSubsystem = new HelpSubsystem();
+        var args = CliParser.SplitCommandLine(input).ToList().AsReadOnly();
+
+        Subsystem.Initialize(helpSubsystem, configuration, args);
+
+        var parseResult = CliParser.Parse(rootCommand, input, configuration);
+        var isActive = Subsystem.GetIsActivated(helpSubsystem, parseResult);
+
+        isActive.Should().Be(result);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Outputs_help_message()
+    {
+        var consoleHack = new ConsoleHack().RedirectToBuffer(true);
+        var helpSubsystem = new HelpSubsystem();
+        Subsystem.Execute(helpSubsystem, new PipelineResult(null, "", null, consoleHack));
+        consoleHack.GetBuffer().Trim().Should().Be("Help me!");
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Custom_help_subsystem_can_be_used()
+    {
+        var consoleHack = new ConsoleHack().RedirectToBuffer(true);
+        var pipeline = Pipeline.CreateEmpty();
+        pipeline.Help = new AlternateSubsystems.AlternateHelp();
+
+        pipeline.Execute(new CliConfiguration(new CliRootCommand()), "-h", consoleHack);
+        consoleHack.GetBuffer().Trim().Should().Be("***Help me!***");
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests.csproj b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests.csproj
index 33a7efd6ef..c125df573b 100644
--- a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests.csproj
+++ b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests.csproj
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
     -->
     <Compile Include="AlternateSubsystems.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Constants.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="HelpSubsystemTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ValueSubsystemTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="ResponseSubsystemTests.cs" />
     <Compile Include="DirectiveSubsystemTests.cs" />
diff --git a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/TestData.cs b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/TestData.cs
index 817d362d22..9093065b14 100644
--- a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/TestData.cs
+++ b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems.Tests/TestData.cs
@@ -93,4 +93,22 @@ internal class Value : IEnumerable<object[]>
 
         IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() => GetEnumerator();
     }
+
+    internal class Help : IEnumerable<object[]>
+    {
+        private readonly List<object[]> _data =
+        [
+            ["--help", true],
+            ["-h", true],
+            ["-hx", true],
+            ["-xh", true],
+            ["-x", false],
+            [null, false],
+            ["", false],
+        ];
+
+        public IEnumerator<object[]> GetEnumerator() => _data.GetEnumerator();
+
+        IEnumerator IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() => GetEnumerator();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems/HelpSubsystem.cs b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems/HelpSubsystem.cs
index b4a922420b..d935bdcf22 100644
--- a/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems/HelpSubsystem.cs
+++ b/src/System.CommandLine.Subsystems/HelpSubsystem.cs
@@ -24,8 +24,20 @@ public class HelpSubsystem(IAnnotationProvider? annotationProvider = null)
         Arity = ArgumentArity.Zero
     };
 
-    protected internal override void Initialize(InitializationContext context) 
-        => context.Configuration.RootCommand.Add(HelpOption);
+    protected internal override void Initialize(InitializationContext context)
+    {
+        AddOptionRecursively(context.Configuration.RootCommand, HelpOption);
+
+        static void AddOptionRecursively(CliCommand command, CliOption option)
+        {
+            command.Add(option);
+
+            foreach (var subcommand in command.Subcommands)
+            {
+                AddOptionRecursively(subcommand, option);
+            }
+        }
+    }
 
     protected internal override bool GetIsActivated(ParseResult? parseResult)
         => parseResult is not null && parseResult.GetValue(HelpOption);