diff --git a/src/command_manager.cc b/src/command_manager.cc
index 82fcea466..9ae3cbc5b 100644
--- a/src/command_manager.cc
+++ b/src/command_manager.cc
@@ -30,21 +30,11 @@ void CommandManager::register_command(String command_name,
                                  std::move(completer) };
 }
 
-void CommandManager::register_commands(memoryview<String> command_names,
-                                       Command command,
-                                       String docstring,
-                                       ParameterDesc param_desc,
-                                       CommandFlags flags,
-                                       CommandCompleter completer)
+void CommandManager::register_alias(String alias, String command)
 {
-    kak_assert(not command_names.empty());
-    m_commands[command_names[0]] = { std::move(command),
-                                     std::move(docstring),
-                                     std::move(param_desc),
-                                     flags,
-                                     completer };
-    for (size_t i = 1; i < command_names.size(); ++i)
-        m_aliases[command_names[i]] = command_names[0];
+    kak_assert(not alias.empty());
+    kak_assert(command_defined(command));
+    m_aliases[alias] = std::move(command);
 }
 
 struct parse_error : runtime_error
diff --git a/src/command_manager.hh b/src/command_manager.hh
index ea577d000..8d0cc957d 100644
--- a/src/command_manager.hh
+++ b/src/command_manager.hh
@@ -79,12 +79,7 @@ public:
                           ParameterDesc param_desc,
                           CommandFlags flags = CommandFlags::None,
                           CommandCompleter completer = CommandCompleter());
-
-    void register_commands(memoryview<String> command_names, Command command,
-                           String docstring,
-                           ParameterDesc param_desc,
-                           CommandFlags flags = CommandFlags::None,
-                           CommandCompleter completer = CommandCompleter());
+   void register_alias(String alias, String command);
 
 private:
     void execute_single_command(CommandParameters params,
diff --git a/src/commands.cc b/src/commands.cc
index 25c206f05..988fbeb1c 100644
--- a/src/commands.cc
+++ b/src/commands.cc
@@ -567,6 +567,14 @@ void define_command(const ParametersParser& parser, Context& context)
     if (parser.has_option("docstring"))
         docstring = parser.option_value("docstring");
 
+    String alias;
+    if (parser.has_option("alias"))
+    {
+        alias = parser.option_value("alias");
+        if (alias.empty())
+            throw runtime_error("alias should not be an empty string");
+    }
+
     String commands = parser[1];
     Command cmd;
     ParameterDesc desc;
@@ -648,13 +656,11 @@ void define_command(const ParametersParser& parser, Context& context)
             return Completions{ 0_byte, params[token_to_complete].length(), split(output, '\n') };
         };
     }
-    if (parser.has_option("alias"))
-        CommandManager::instance().register_commands(
-            { cmd_name, parser.option_value("alias") },
-            cmd, std::move(docstring), desc, flags, completer);
-    else
-        CommandManager::instance().register_command(
-            cmd_name, cmd, std::move(docstring), desc, flags, completer);
+
+    auto& cm = CommandManager::instance();
+    cm.register_command(cmd_name, cmd, std::move(docstring), desc, flags, completer);
+    if (not alias.empty())
+        cm.register_alias(std::move(alias), cmd_name);
 }
 
 const CommandDesc define_command_cmd = {
@@ -1316,10 +1322,9 @@ void exec_keys(const KeyList& keys, Context& context)
 
 static void register_command(CommandManager& cm, const CommandDesc& c)
 {
+    cm.register_command(c.name, c.func, c.docstring, c.params, c.flags, c.completer);
     if (c.alias)
-        cm.register_commands({ c.name, c.alias }, c.func, c.docstring, c.params, c.flags, c.completer);
-    else
-        cm.register_command(c.name, c.func, c.docstring, c.params, c.flags, c.completer);
+        cm.register_alias(c.alias, c.name);
 }
 
 void register_commands()