diff --git a/doc/66-env.md b/doc/66-env.md
index c706cfb6e68753a011fe3fc2f52f5657f5c34590..4e454c9861f8c0e0c85f8ad94311758d30f8cab1 100644
--- a/doc/66-env.md
+++ b/doc/66-env.md
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ Lists or replaces an environment variable of a service depending on the options
 
 - **-L** : list defined environment variables for service.
 
-- **-e** : edit the configuration file with `EDITOR` set in your system environment
+- **-e** : edit the configuration file with `EDITOR` set in your system environment. This is the default option if **-L** or **-r** was not passed.
 
 - **-r** *key=value* : override an existing `key=value` pair with the given one. The `key=value` needs to be single quoted in case of multiple arguments.
 
diff --git a/src/lib66/ssexec_env.c b/src/lib66/ssexec_env.c
index 8b3ed44b564b23d34f68b9b99e39af522214eb6b..5d802595434a068eeed76e299e5e8b10324683a1 100644
--- a/src/lib66/ssexec_env.c
+++ b/src/lib66/ssexec_env.c
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ int ssexec_env(int argc, char const *const *argv,char const *const *envp,ssexec_
 	if (argc < 1) log_usage(usage_env) ;
 	sv = argv[0] ;
 
+	if (!list && !replace && !edit) edit = 1 ;
+
 	treename = !info->opt_tree ? 0 : info->treename.s ;
 
 	if (!src)