diff --git a/README b/README
index d1a2fc3..db60835 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     env vars:
       data directory:   export PA_DIR=~/.local/share/pa/passwords
       password length:  export PA_LENGTH=50
-      password pattern: export PA_PATTERN=A-Za-z0-9-_
+      password pattern: export PA_PATTERN=A-Za-z0-9_-
       disable tracking: export PA_NOGIT=
 
 
diff --git a/pa b/pa
index a6df447..74f1843 100755
--- a/pa
+++ b/pa
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 pw_add() {
     if yn "generate a password?"; then
-        pass=$(rand_chars "${PA_LENGTH:-50}" "${PA_PATTERN:-A-Za-z0-9-_}") ||
+        pass=$(rand_chars "${PA_LENGTH:-50}" "${PA_PATTERN:-A-Za-z0-9_-}") ||
             die "couldn't generate a password"
     else
         # 'sread()' is a simple wrapper function around 'read'
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ usage() {
   env vars:
     data directory:   export PA_DIR=~/.local/share/pa
     password length:  export PA_LENGTH=50
-    password pattern: export PA_PATTERN=A-Za-z0-9-_
+    password pattern: export PA_PATTERN=A-Za-z0-9_-
     disable tracking: export PA_NOGIT=
 "
     exit 0