diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb b/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb
index 89ac6abf1b..7e0bd7febd 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/extend/ARGV.rb
@@ -190,13 +190,13 @@ module HomebrewArgvExtension
 
   private
 
-  def spec
+  def spec(default=:stable)
     if include?("--HEAD")
       :head
     elsif include?("--devel")
       :devel
     else
-      :stable
+      default
     end
   end