diff --git a/contrib/adc/adc.common-functions b/contrib/adc/adc.common-functions
index d5b880e..89a3248 100644
--- a/contrib/adc/adc.common-functions
+++ b/contrib/adc/adc.common-functions
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ BASE_FETCH_URL="git://gl.example.com"
 GL_FORKED_FROM="gl-forked-from"
     # KDE may set this to kde-cloned-from for historical reasons
 
+# Change to 1 to make -list the default action for the 'help' command
+HELP_LIST_DEFAULT=0
+
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 die() { echo "$@"; exit 1; }
diff --git a/contrib/adc/help b/contrib/adc/help
index 4f34e11..b8d4482 100755
--- a/contrib/adc/help
+++ b/contrib/adc/help
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 # the help adc now takes some options; we need to process them first
 
-[ "$1" = "-list" ] && {
+[ "$1" = "-list" -o $HELP_LIST_DEFAULT ] && {
     # the GL_ADC_PATH directory has files other than ADCs also, notably the
     # include file for shell ADCs, and maybe a README or two.  Those should be
     # chmod -x.