} *man_viewer_info_list;
 
 enum help_format {
+       HELP_FORMAT_NONE,
        HELP_FORMAT_MAN,
        HELP_FORMAT_INFO,
        HELP_FORMAT_WEB,
 };
 
 static int show_all = 0;
-static enum help_format help_format = HELP_FORMAT_MAN;
+static enum help_format help_format = HELP_FORMAT_NONE;
 static struct option builtin_help_options[] = {
        OPT_BOOLEAN('a', "all", &show_all, "print all available commands"),
        OPT_SET_INT('m', "man", &help_format, "show man page", HELP_FORMAT_MAN),
 {
        int nongit;
        const char *alias;
+       enum help_format parsed_help_format;
        load_command_list("git-", &main_cmds, &other_cmds);
 
        argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, builtin_help_options,
                        builtin_help_usage, 0);
+       parsed_help_format = help_format;
 
        if (show_all) {
                printf("usage: %s\n\n", git_usage_string);
        setup_git_directory_gently(&nongit);
        git_config(git_help_config, NULL);
 
+       if (parsed_help_format != HELP_FORMAT_NONE)
+               help_format = parsed_help_format;
+
        alias = alias_lookup(argv[0]);
        if (alias && !is_git_command(argv[0])) {
                printf("`git %s' is aliased to `%s'\n", argv[0], alias);
        }
 
        switch (help_format) {
+       case HELP_FORMAT_NONE:
        case HELP_FORMAT_MAN:
                show_man_page(argv[0]);
                break;