diff --git a/redo.py b/redo.py
index b3dc39a..6404c01 100755
--- a/redo.py
+++ b/redo.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ version    print the current version and exit
 o = options.Options('redo', optspec)
 (opt, flags, extra) = o.parse(sys.argv[1:])
 
-targets = extra or ['all']
+targets = extra
 
 if opt.version:
     import version
diff --git a/t/blank/blank.do b/t/blank/blank.do
index 36ca2fa..d4c3b3f 100644
--- a/t/blank/blank.do
+++ b/t/blank/blank.do
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 redo-ifchange
-
+redo-ifcreate
+redo
diff --git a/vars_init.py b/vars_init.py
index 849c20f..47821d1 100644
--- a/vars_init.py
+++ b/vars_init.py
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import sys, os
 def init(targets):
     if not os.environ.get('REDO'):
         # toplevel call to redo
+        if len(targets) == 0:
+            targets.append('all')
         exenames = [os.path.abspath(sys.argv[0]),
                     os.path.realpath(sys.argv[0])]
         dirnames = [os.path.dirname(p) for p in exenames]