diff --git a/tools/crm_error.c b/tools/crm_error.c
index b0f7be1e26..4fbdaa1b7e 100644
--- a/tools/crm_error.c
+++ b/tools/crm_error.c
@@ -1,159 +1,156 @@
 /*
  * Copyright 2012-2022 the Pacemaker project contributors
  *
  * The version control history for this file may have further details.
  *
  * This source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2
  * or later (GPLv2+) WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY.
  */
 
 #include <crm_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/cmdline_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/output_internal.h>
 #include <crm/common/strings_internal.h>
 
 #include <crm/crm.h>
 
 #define SUMMARY "crm_error - display name or description of a Pacemaker error code"
 
 struct {
     gboolean as_exit_code;
     gboolean as_rc;
     gboolean with_name;
     gboolean do_list;
 } options;
 
 static GOptionEntry entries[] = {
     { "name", 'n', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &options.with_name,
       "Show error's name with its description (useful for looking for sources "
       "of the error in source code)",
        NULL },
     { "list", 'l', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &options.do_list,
-      "Show all known errors",
+      "Show all known errors (enabled by default if no rc is specified)",
       NULL },
     { "exit", 'X', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &options.as_exit_code,
       "Interpret as exit code rather than legacy function return value",
       NULL },
     { "rc", 'r', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &options.as_rc,
       "Interpret as return code rather than legacy function return value",
       NULL },
 
     { NULL }
 };
 
 static void
 get_strings(int rc, const char **name, const char **str)
 {
     if (options.as_exit_code) {
         *str = crm_exit_str((crm_exit_t) rc);
         *name = crm_exit_name(rc);
     } else if (options.as_rc) {
         *str = pcmk_rc_str(rc);
         *name = pcmk_rc_name(rc);
     } else {
         *str = pcmk_strerror(rc);
         *name = pcmk_errorname(rc);
     }
 }
 
 
 static GOptionContext *
 build_arg_context(pcmk__common_args_t *args, GOptionGroup **group) {
     GOptionContext *context = NULL;
 
-    context = pcmk__build_arg_context(args, NULL, group, "-- <rc> [...]");
+    context = pcmk__build_arg_context(args, NULL, group, "[-- <rc> [<rc>...]]");
     pcmk__add_main_args(context, entries);
     return context;
 }
 
 int
 main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     crm_exit_t exit_code = CRM_EX_OK;
     const char *name = NULL;
     const char *desc = NULL;
 
     GError *error = NULL;
 
     GOptionGroup *output_group = NULL;
     pcmk__common_args_t *args = pcmk__new_common_args(SUMMARY);
     gchar **processed_args = pcmk__cmdline_preproc(argv, NULL);
     GOptionContext *context = build_arg_context(args, &output_group);
 
     if (!g_option_context_parse_strv(context, &processed_args, &error)) {
         exit_code = CRM_EX_USAGE;
         goto done;
     }
 
     pcmk__cli_init_logging("crm_error", args->verbosity);
 
     if (args->version) {
         g_strfreev(processed_args);
         pcmk__free_arg_context(context);
         /* FIXME:  When crm_error is converted to use formatted output, this can go. */
         pcmk__cli_help('v', CRM_EX_OK);
     }
 
+    if (g_strv_length(processed_args) < 2) {
+        // If no result codes were specified, list them all
+        options.do_list = TRUE;
+    }
+
     if (options.do_list) {
         int start, end, width;
 
         // 256 is a hacky magic number that "should" be enough
         if (options.as_rc) {
             start = pcmk_rc_error - 256;
             end = PCMK_CUSTOM_OFFSET;
             width = 4;
         } else {
             start = 0;
             end = 256;
             width = 3;
         }
 
         for (int code = start; code < end; code++) {
             if (code == (pcmk_rc_error + 1)) {
                 // Values in between are reserved for callers, no use iterating
                 code = pcmk_rc_ok;
             }
             get_strings(code, &name, &desc);
             if (pcmk__str_eq(name, "Unknown", pcmk__str_null_matches) || !strcmp(name, "CRM_EX_UNKNOWN")) {
                 // Undefined
             } else if(options.with_name) {
                 printf("% .*d: %-26s  %s\n", width, code, name, desc);
             } else {
                 printf("% .*d: %s\n", width, code, desc);
             }
         }
 
     } else {
         int code = 0;
 
-        if (g_strv_length(processed_args) < 2) {
-            char *help = g_option_context_get_help(context, TRUE, NULL);
-            fprintf(stderr, "%s", help);
-            g_free(help);
-            exit_code = CRM_EX_USAGE;
-            goto done;
-        }
-
         /* Skip #1 because that's the program name. */
         for (int lpc = 1; processed_args[lpc] != NULL; lpc++) {
             if (pcmk__str_eq(processed_args[lpc], "--", pcmk__str_none)) {
                 continue;
             }
 
             pcmk__scan_min_int(processed_args[lpc], &code, INT_MIN);
             get_strings(code, &name, &desc);
             if (options.with_name) {
                 printf("%s - %s\n", name, desc);
             } else {
                 printf("%s\n", desc);
             }
         }
     }
 
  done:
     g_strfreev(processed_args);
     pcmk__free_arg_context(context);
 
     pcmk__output_and_clear_error(error, NULL);
     return exit_code;
 }