diff --git a/pre_commit/main.py b/pre_commit/main.py
index 8d2d6302..59de5f24 100644
--- a/pre_commit/main.py
+++ b/pre_commit/main.py
@@ -55,12 +55,25 @@ def _add_config_option(parser):
     )
 
 
+class AppendReplaceDefault(argparse.Action):
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(AppendReplaceDefault, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.appended = False
+
+    def __call__(self, parser, namespace, values, option_string=None):
+        if not self.appended:
+            setattr(namespace, self.dest, [])
+            self.appended = True
+        getattr(namespace, self.dest).append(values)
+
+
 def _add_hook_type_option(parser):
     parser.add_argument(
         '-t', '--hook-type', choices=(
             'pre-commit', 'pre-push', 'prepare-commit-msg', 'commit-msg',
         ),
-        action='append',
+        action=AppendReplaceDefault,
+        default=['pre-commit'],
         dest='hook_types',
     )
 
@@ -121,11 +134,6 @@ def _adjust_args_and_chdir(args):
         args.files = [os.path.relpath(filename) for filename in args.files]
     if args.command == 'try-repo' and os.path.exists(args.repo):
         args.repo = os.path.relpath(args.repo)
-    if (
-            args.command in {'install', 'uninstall', 'init-templatedir'} and
-            not args.hook_types
-    ):
-        args.hook_types = ['pre-commit']
 
 
 def main(argv=None):
diff --git a/tests/main_test.py b/tests/main_test.py
index aad9c4b9..364e0d39 100644
--- a/tests/main_test.py
+++ b/tests/main_test.py
@@ -13,6 +13,20 @@ from pre_commit.error_handler import FatalError
 from testing.auto_namedtuple import auto_namedtuple
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ('argv', 'expected'),
+    (
+        ((), ['f']),
+        (('--f', 'x'), ['x']),
+        (('--f', 'x', '--f', 'y'), ['x', 'y']),
+    ),
+)
+def test_append_replace_default(argv, expected):
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument('--f', action=main.AppendReplaceDefault, default=['f'])
+    assert parser.parse_args(argv).f == expected
+
+
 class Args(object):
     def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         kwargs.setdefault('command', 'help')