diff --git a/sphinx/__init__.py b/sphinx/__init__.py
index 87c295896..ce8553a46 100644
--- a/sphinx/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/__init__.py
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ def make_main(argv=sys.argv[1:]):
     # type: (List[str]) -> int
     """Sphinx build "make mode" entry."""
     from sphinx import make_mode
-    return make_mode.run_make_mode(argv[2:])  # type: ignore
+    return make_mode.run_make_mode(argv[1:])  # type: ignore
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/sphinx/cmdline.py b/sphinx/cmdline.py
index a9c920c23..a8e2d3898 100644
--- a/sphinx/cmdline.py
+++ b/sphinx/cmdline.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ def handle_exception(app, opts, exception, stderr=sys.stderr):
                   file=stderr)
 
 
-def main(argv):
+def main(argv=sys.argv[1:]):
     # type: (List[unicode]) -> int
     parser = optparse.OptionParser(USAGE, epilog=EPILOG, formatter=MyFormatter())
     parser.add_option('--version', action='store_true', dest='version',
diff --git a/tests/test_quickstart.py b/tests/test_quickstart.py
index 6195e6216..1c6e53b5a 100644
--- a/tests/test_quickstart.py
+++ b/tests/test_quickstart.py
@@ -298,8 +298,7 @@ def test_default_filename(tempdir):
 
 
 def test_extensions(tempdir):
-    qs.main(['sphinx-quickstart', '-q',
-             '-p', 'project_name', '-a', 'author',
+    qs.main(['-q', '-p', 'project_name', '-a', 'author',
              '--extensions', 'foo,bar,baz', tempdir])
 
     conffile = tempdir / 'conf.py'
diff --git a/utils/check_sources.py b/utils/check_sources.py
index 7e368127c..59b380e45 100755
--- a/utils/check_sources.py
+++ b/utils/check_sources.py
@@ -179,13 +179,13 @@ def check_xhtml(fn, lines):
                 yield lno + 1, "used " + bad_tag
 
 
-def main(argv):
+def main(argv=sys.argv[1:]):
     parser = OptionParser(usage='Usage: %prog [-v] [-i ignorepath]* [path]')
     parser.add_option('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose', default=False,
                       action='store_true')
     parser.add_option('-i', '--ignore-path', dest='ignored_paths',
                       default=[], action='append')
-    options, args = parser.parse_args(argv[1:])
+    options, args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
     if len(args) == 0:
         path = '.'