diff --git a/cli/common_flags.go b/cli/common_flags.go
index c50562546..a34ee99e8 100644
--- a/cli/common_flags.go
+++ b/cli/common_flags.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func addCommonFlags(flagSet *pflag.FlagSet) *container {
 	flagSet.StringVar(&c.quotaID, "quota-id", "", "Specified quota id, if id < 0, it means pouchd alloc a unique quota id")
 
 	// additional runtime spec annotations
-	flagSet.StringSliceVar(&c.specAnnotation, "annotation", nil, "Additional annotation for runtime")
+	flagSet.StringArrayVar(&c.specAnnotation, "annotation", nil, "Additional annotation for runtime")
 
 	// nvidia container
 	flagSet.StringVar(&c.nvidiaDriverCapabilities, "nvidia-capabilities", "", "NvidiaDriverCapabilities controls which driver libraries/binaries will be mounted inside the container")
diff --git a/test/cli_create_test.go b/test/cli_create_test.go
index 7e0bb8708..dacf8c221 100644
--- a/test/cli_create_test.go
+++ b/test/cli_create_test.go
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ func (suite *PouchCreateSuite) TestCreateWithOOMOption(c *check.C) {
 func (suite *PouchCreateSuite) TestCreateWithAnnotation(c *check.C) {
 	cname := "TestCreateWithAnnotation"
 	res := command.PouchRun("create", "--annotation", "a=b", "--annotation", "foo=bar",
-		"--name", cname, busyboxImage)
+		"--annotation", "k1=v1,v2", "--name", cname, busyboxImage)
 	defer DelContainerForceMultyTime(c, cname)
 	res.Assert(c, icmd.Success)
 
@@ -431,6 +431,7 @@ func (suite *PouchCreateSuite) TestCreateWithAnnotation(c *check.C) {
 
 	c.Assert(util.PartialEqual(annotationStr, "a=b"), check.IsNil)
 	c.Assert(util.PartialEqual(annotationStr, "foo=bar"), check.IsNil)
+	c.Assert(util.PartialEqual(annotationStr, "k1=v1,v2"), check.IsNil)
 }
 
 // TestCreateWithUlimit tests creating container with annotation.