diff --git a/ipalib/public.py b/ipalib/public.py
index baa1496aa..10f916937 100644
--- a/ipalib/public.py
+++ b/ipalib/public.py
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ class option(plugable.Plugin):
     ))
     __rules = None
 
-    # type = unicode, int, float # Set in subclass
+    type = unicode
+    required = False
 
     def normalize(self, value):
         """
@@ -132,7 +133,7 @@ class cmd(plugable.Plugin):
         'autofill',
         '__call__',
         'get_doc',
-        'opt',
+        'options',
 
     ))
     __options = None
@@ -156,7 +157,9 @@ class cmd(plugable.Plugin):
         """
         for cls in self.option_classes:
             assert inspect.isclass(cls)
-            yield plugable.Proxy(option, cls())
+            o = cls()
+            o.__lock__()
+            yield plugable.Proxy(option, o)
 
     def __get_options(self):
         """
@@ -164,7 +167,7 @@ class cmd(plugable.Plugin):
         """
         if self.__options is None:
             self.__options = plugable.NameSpace(self.get_options())
-        return self.__opt
+        return self.__options
     options = property(__get_options)
 
     def normalize_iter(self, kw):
diff --git a/ipalib/tests/test_public.py b/ipalib/tests/test_public.py
index 91d1f7246..7e98b7355 100644
--- a/ipalib/tests/test_public.py
+++ b/ipalib/tests/test_public.py
@@ -164,9 +164,12 @@ class test_cmd(ClassChecker):
     _cls = public.cmd
 
     def get_subcls(self):
-        class option0(public.option):
+        class my_option(public.option):
+            def normalize(self, value):
+                return super(my_option, self).normalize(value).lower()
+        class option0(my_option):
             pass
-        class option1(public.option):
+        class option1(my_option):
             pass
         class example(self.cls):
             option_classes = (option0, option1)
@@ -188,6 +191,36 @@ class test_cmd(ClassChecker):
             assert proxy.implements(public.option)
         assert i == 1
 
+    def test_options(self):
+        """
+        Tests the `options` property.
+        """
+        assert 'options' in self.cls.__public__ # Public
+        sub = self.subcls()
+        options = sub.options
+        assert type(options) == plugable.NameSpace
+        assert len(options) == 2
+        for name in ('option0', 'option1'):
+            assert name in options
+            proxy = options[name]
+            assert getattr(options, name) is proxy
+            assert isinstance(proxy, plugable.Proxy)
+            assert proxy.name == name
+
+    def test_normalize(self):
+        """
+        Tests the `normalize` method.
+        """
+        assert 'normalize' in self.cls.__public__ # Public
+        kw = dict(
+            option0='OPTION0',
+            option1='OPTION1',
+            option2='option2',
+        )
+        norm = dict((k, v.lower()) for (k, v) in kw.items())
+        sub = self.subcls()
+        assert sub.normalize(**kw) == norm
+
 
 def test_obj():
     cls = public.obj