diff --git a/src/pabot/pabot.py b/src/pabot/pabot.py
index c174b359..8738db20 100644
--- a/src/pabot/pabot.py
+++ b/src/pabot/pabot.py
@@ -1258,6 +1258,7 @@ def _options_for_rebot(options, start_time_string, end_time_string):
         "maxassignlength",
         "maxerrorlines",
         "monitorcolors",
+        "parser",
         "prerunmodifier",
         "quiet",
         "randomize",
diff --git a/src/pabot/result_merger.py b/src/pabot/result_merger.py
index 169d7a76..e7ab827d 100644
--- a/src/pabot/result_merger.py
+++ b/src/pabot/result_merger.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def merge(self, merged):
         try:
             self._set_prefix(merged.source)
             merged.suite.visit(self)
-            self.root.metadata._add_initial(merged.suite.metadata)
+            self.root.metadata.update(merged.suite.metadata)
             if self.errors != merged.errors:
                 self.errors.add(merged.errors)
         except:
diff --git a/tests/test_pabot.py b/tests/test_pabot.py
index 703f7a9f..c60c7439 100644
--- a/tests/test_pabot.py
+++ b/tests/test_pabot.py
@@ -1045,6 +1045,7 @@ def test_rebot_conf(self):
                 "prerunmodifier",
                 "monitorcolors",
                 "language",
+                "parser",
             ]:
                 self.assertFalse(key in options, "%s should not be in options" % key)
             else: