diff --git a/Makefile.pre.in b/Makefile.pre.in
index 579b3fddabc7c3..a70afb95a584e5 100644
--- a/Makefile.pre.in
+++ b/Makefile.pre.in
@@ -1690,7 +1690,7 @@ check-abidump: all
 
 .PHONY: regen-limited-abi
 regen-limited-abi: all
-	$(RUNSHARED) ./$(BUILDPYTHON) $(srcdir)/Tools/build/stable_abi.py --generate-all $(srcdir)/Misc/stable_abi.toml
+	$(RUNSHARED) ./$(BUILDPYTHON) $(srcdir)/Tools/build/stable_abi.py --generate-all
 
 ############################################################################
 # Regenerate Unicode Data
@@ -3136,7 +3136,7 @@ patchcheck: all
 
 .PHONY: check-limited-abi
 check-limited-abi: all
-	$(RUNSHARED) ./$(BUILDPYTHON) $(srcdir)/Tools/build/stable_abi.py --all $(srcdir)/Misc/stable_abi.toml
+	$(RUNSHARED) ./$(BUILDPYTHON) $(srcdir)/Tools/build/stable_abi.py --all
 
 .PHONY: update-config
 update-config:
diff --git a/Tools/build/stable_abi.py b/Tools/build/stable_abi.py
index f7fccb636858f0..2874c436c1ebc9 100644
--- a/Tools/build/stable_abi.py
+++ b/Tools/build/stable_abi.py
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 import csv
 
 SCRIPT_NAME = 'Tools/build/stable_abi.py'
+DEFAULT_MANIFEST_PATH = (
+    Path(__file__).parent / '../../Misc/stable_abi.toml').resolve()
 MISSING = object()
 
 EXCLUDED_HEADERS = {
@@ -641,8 +643,9 @@ def main():
         formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter,
     )
     parser.add_argument(
-        "file", type=Path, metavar='FILE',
-        help="file with the stable abi manifest",
+        "file", type=Path, metavar='FILE', nargs='?',
+        default=DEFAULT_MANIFEST_PATH,
+        help=f"file with the stable abi manifest (default: {DEFAULT_MANIFEST_PATH})",
     )
     parser.add_argument(
         "--generate", action='store_true',
@@ -684,7 +687,7 @@ def main():
 
     if args.list:
         for gen in generators:
-            print(f'{gen.arg_name}: {base_path / gen.default_path}')
+            print(f'{gen.arg_name}: {(base_path / gen.default_path).resolve()}')
         sys.exit(0)
 
     run_all_generators = args.generate_all
@@ -735,8 +738,10 @@ def main():
 
     if not results:
         if args.generate:
-            parser.error('No file specified. Use --help for usage.')
-        parser.error('No check specified. Use --help for usage.')
+            parser.error('No file specified. Use --generate-all to regenerate '
+                         + 'all files, or --help for usage.')
+        parser.error('No check specified. Use --all to check all files, '
+                     + 'or --help for usage.')
 
     failed_results = [name for name, result in results.items() if not result]