diff --git a/virtualenv.py b/virtualenv.py
index 831d975ee..a7a794bb7 100755
--- a/virtualenv.py
+++ b/virtualenv.py
@@ -1075,7 +1075,7 @@ def space_path2url(p):
             args = ["install"] + [{extra_args}]
             if cert_file is not None:
                 args += ["--cert", cert_file.name]
-            args += sys.argv[1:]
+            args += sys.argv[-3:]
 
             sys.exit(_main(args))
         finally: