diff --git a/subcmds/init.py b/subcmds/init.py
index 1131260..29730cc 100644
--- a/subcmds/init.py
+++ b/subcmds/init.py
@@ -91,8 +91,9 @@
                  dest='depth',
                  help='create a shallow clone with given depth; see git clone')
     g.add_option('-g', '--groups',
-                 dest='groups', default='all,-notdefault',
-                 help='restrict manifest projects to ones with a specified group',
+                 dest='groups', default='default',
+                 help='restrict manifest projects to ones with specified '
+                      'group(s) [default|all|G1,G2,G3|G4,-G5,-G6]',
                  metavar='GROUP')
     g.add_option('-p', '--platform',
                  dest='platform', default='auto',
@@ -169,7 +170,7 @@
 
     groups = [x for x in groups if x]
     groupstr = ','.join(groups)
-    if opt.platform == 'auto' and groupstr == 'all,-notdefault,platform-' + platform.system().lower():
+    if opt.platform == 'auto' and groupstr == 'default,platform-' + platform.system().lower():
       groupstr = None
     m.config.SetString('manifest.groups', groupstr)