diff --git a/cli/command/container/opts.go b/cli/command/container/opts.go
index 5ae7e8cc01..c03c0ae698 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/opts.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/opts.go
@@ -379,23 +379,20 @@ func parse(flags *pflag.FlagSet, copts *containerOptions, serverOS string) (*con
 	}
 
 	publishOpts := copts.publish.GetAll()
-	var ports map[nat.Port]struct{}
-	var portBindings map[nat.Port][]nat.PortBinding
+	var (
+		ports         map[nat.Port]struct{}
+		portBindings  map[nat.Port][]nat.PortBinding
+		convertedOpts []string
+	)
 
-	ports, portBindings, err = nat.ParsePortSpecs(publishOpts)
-
-	// If simple port parsing fails try to parse as long format
+	convertedOpts, err = convertToStandardNotation(publishOpts)
 	if err != nil {
-		publishOpts, err = parsePortOpts(publishOpts)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+		return nil, err
+	}
 
-		ports, portBindings, err = nat.ParsePortSpecs(publishOpts)
-
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
+	ports, portBindings, err = nat.ParsePortSpecs(convertedOpts)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	// Merge in exposed ports to the map of published ports
@@ -403,10 +400,11 @@ func parse(flags *pflag.FlagSet, copts *containerOptions, serverOS string) (*con
 		if strings.Contains(e, ":") {
 			return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid port format for --expose: %s", e)
 		}
-		//support two formats for expose, original format <portnum>/[<proto>] or <startport-endport>/[<proto>]
+		// support two formats for expose, original format <portnum>/[<proto>]
+		// or <startport-endport>/[<proto>]
 		proto, port := nat.SplitProtoPort(e)
-		//parse the start and end port and create a sequence of ports to expose
-		//if expose a port, the start and end port are the same
+		// parse the start and end port and create a sequence of ports to expose
+		// if expose a port, the start and end port are the same
 		start, end, err := nat.ParsePortRange(port)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, errors.Errorf("invalid range format for --expose: %s, error: %s", e, err)
@@ -796,19 +794,23 @@ func parseNetworkAttachmentOpt(ep opts.NetworkAttachmentOpts) (*networktypes.End
 	return epConfig, nil
 }
 
-func parsePortOpts(publishOpts []string) ([]string, error) {
+func convertToStandardNotation(ports []string) ([]string, error) {
 	optsList := []string{}
-	for _, publish := range publishOpts {
-		params := map[string]string{"protocol": "tcp"}
-		for _, param := range strings.Split(publish, ",") {
-			opt := strings.Split(param, "=")
-			if len(opt) < 2 {
-				return optsList, errors.Errorf("invalid publish opts format (should be name=value but got '%s')", param)
-			}
+	for _, publish := range ports {
+		if strings.Contains(publish, "=") {
+			params := map[string]string{"protocol": "tcp"}
+			for _, param := range strings.Split(publish, ",") {
+				opt := strings.Split(param, "=")
+				if len(opt) < 2 {
+					return optsList, errors.Errorf("invalid publish opts format (should be name=value but got '%s')", param)
+				}
 
-			params[opt[0]] = opt[1]
+				params[opt[0]] = opt[1]
+			}
+			optsList = append(optsList, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/%s", params["published"], params["target"], params["protocol"]))
+		} else {
+			optsList = append(optsList, publish)
 		}
-		optsList = append(optsList, fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s/%s", params["published"], params["target"], params["protocol"]))
 	}
 	return optsList, nil
 }
diff --git a/cli/command/container/opts_test.go b/cli/command/container/opts_test.go
index 46a4ba5192..c2776d1db0 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/opts_test.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/opts_test.go
@@ -873,8 +873,33 @@ func TestParseSystemPaths(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestParsePortOpts(t *testing.T) {
-	parsed, err := parsePortOpts([]string{"published=1500,target=200", "target=80,published=90"})
-	assert.NilError(t, err)
-	assert.DeepEqual(t, []string{"1500:200/tcp", "90:80/tcp"}, parsed)
+func TestConvertToStandardNotation(t *testing.T) {
+	valid := map[string][]string{
+		"20:10/tcp":               {"target=10,published=20"},
+		"40:30":                   {"40:30"},
+		"20:20 80:4444":           {"20:20", "80:4444"},
+		"1500:2500/tcp 1400:1300": {"target=2500,published=1500", "1400:1300"},
+		"1500:200/tcp 90:80/tcp":  {"published=1500,target=200", "target=80,published=90"},
+	}
+
+	invalid := [][]string{
+		{"published=1500,target:444"},
+		{"published=1500,444"},
+		{"published=1500,target,444"},
+	}
+
+	for key, ports := range valid {
+		convertedPorts, err := convertToStandardNotation(ports)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			assert.NilError(t, err)
+		}
+		assert.DeepEqual(t, strings.Split(key, " "), convertedPorts)
+	}
+
+	for _, ports := range invalid {
+		if _, err := convertToStandardNotation(ports); err == nil {
+			t.Fatalf("ConvertToStandardNotation(`%q`) should have failed conversion", ports)
+		}
+	}
 }