diff --git a/Source/cmcmd.cxx b/Source/cmcmd.cxx
index 26c2babb82..3c9cb5d37d 100644
--- a/Source/cmcmd.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmcmd.cxx
@@ -634,18 +634,19 @@ int HandleIcstat(std::string const& runCmd, std::string const& sourceFile,
     icstat_cmd.emplace_back(cmd);
   }
 
-  // Create the default manifest ruleset file when not found
+  // Create a default C-STAT manifest file containing standard checks
+  // if it does not already exist.
   if (!cmSystemTools::FileExists("cstat_sel_checks.txt")) {
     std::vector<std::string> ichecks_cmd;
     ichecks_cmd.emplace_back(
       cmStrCat(cmSystemTools::GetFilenamePath(orig_cmd[0]), "/ichecks"));
-    ichecks_cmd.emplace_back("--default");
-    ichecks_cmd.emplace_back("stdchecks");
+    ichecks_cmd.emplace_back("--default=stdchecks");
+
     if (!cmSystemTools::RunSingleCommand(ichecks_cmd, &stdOut, &stdErr, &ret,
                                          nullptr,
                                          cmSystemTools::OUTPUT_NONE)) {
-      std::cerr << "Error generating default manifest file '" << ichecks_cmd[0]
-                << "': " << stdOut << '\n';
+      std::cerr << "C-STAT: Error creating default manifest file '"
+                << ichecks_cmd[0] << "': " << stdOut << '\n';
       return 1;
     }
   }