diff --git a/lib/commands/help.js b/lib/commands/help.js
index 40f5ad9b30092..d31b3ca697651 100644
--- a/lib/commands/help.js
+++ b/lib/commands/help.js
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ const BaseCommand = require('../base-command.js')
 // We don't currently compress our man pages but if we ever did this would
 // seemlessly continue supporting it
 const manNumberRegex = /\.(\d+)(\.[^/\\]*)?$/
+// Searches for the "npm-" prefix in page names, to prefer those.
+const manNpmPrefixRegex = /\/npm-/
 
 class Help extends BaseCommand {
   static description = 'Get help on npm'
@@ -61,13 +63,27 @@ class Help extends BaseCommand {
     const f = `${manroot}/${manSearch}/?(npm-)${section}.[0-9]*`
     let mans = await glob(f)
     mans = mans.sort((a, b) => {
-      // Because of the glob we know the manNumberRegex will pass
-      const aManNumber = a.match(manNumberRegex)[1]
-      const bManNumber = b.match(manNumberRegex)[1]
+      // Prefer the page with an npm prefix, if there's only one.
+      const aHasPrefix = manNpmPrefixRegex.test(a)
+      const bHasPrefix = manNpmPrefixRegex.test(b)
+      if (aHasPrefix !== bHasPrefix) {
+        return aHasPrefix ? -1 : 1
+      }
 
-      // man number sort first so that 1 aka commands are preferred
-      if (aManNumber !== bManNumber) {
-        return aManNumber - bManNumber
+      // Because the glob is (subtly) different from manNumberRegex,
+      // we can't rely on it passing.
+      const aManNumberMatch = a.match(manNumberRegex)
+      const bManNumberMatch = b.match(manNumberRegex)
+      if (aManNumberMatch) {
+        if (!bManNumberMatch) {
+          return -1
+        }
+        // man number sort first so that 1 aka commands are preferred
+        if (aManNumberMatch[1] !== bManNumberMatch[1]) {
+          return aManNumberMatch[1] - bManNumberMatch[1]
+        }
+      } else if (bManNumberMatch) {
+        return 1
       }
 
       return localeCompare(a, b)
diff --git a/test/lib/commands/help.js b/test/lib/commands/help.js
index b76234d996627..f84f94ad2f8d9 100644
--- a/test/lib/commands/help.js
+++ b/test/lib/commands/help.js
@@ -310,3 +310,41 @@ t.test('npm help with complex installation path finds proper help file', async t
 
   t.match(openUrlArg, /commands(\/|\\)npm-install.html$/, 'attempts to open the correct url')
 })
+
+t.test('npm help - prefers npm help pages', async t => {
+  // Unusual ordering is to get full test coverage of all branches inside the
+  // sort function.
+  globResult = [
+    '/root/man/man6/npm-install.6',
+    '/root/man/man1/install.1',
+    '/root/man/man5/npm-install.5',
+  ]
+  t.teardown(() => {
+    globResult = globDefaults
+    spawnBin = null
+    spawnArgs = null
+  })
+  await help.exec(['install'])
+
+  t.equal(spawnBin, 'man', 'calls man by default')
+  t.strictSame(spawnArgs, ['/root/man/man5/npm-install.5'], 'passes the correct arguments')
+})
+
+t.test('npm help - works in the presence of strange man pages', async t => {
+  // Unusual ordering is to get full test coverage of all branches inside the
+  // sort function.
+  globResult = [
+    '/root/man/man6/config.6strange',
+    '/root/man/man1/config.1',
+    '/root/man/man5/config.5ssl',
+  ]
+  t.teardown(() => {
+    globResult = globDefaults
+    spawnBin = null
+    spawnArgs = null
+  })
+  await help.exec(['config'])
+
+  t.equal(spawnBin, 'man', 'calls man by default')
+  t.strictSame(spawnArgs, ['/root/man/man1/config.1'], 'passes the correct arguments')
+})