diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts
index cd79e56322fba..79d4f2771b7d8 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/bin/cdk.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import yargs = require('yargs');
 import { bootstrapEnvironment, destroyStack, SDK } from '../lib';
 import { environmentsFromDescriptors, globEnvironmentsFromStacks } from '../lib/api/cxapp/environments';
 import { execProgram } from '../lib/api/cxapp/exec';
-import { AppStacks, ExtendedStackSelection } from '../lib/api/cxapp/stacks';
+import { AppStacks, DefaultSelection, ExtendedStackSelection } from '../lib/api/cxapp/stacks';
 import { CloudFormationDeploymentTarget, DEFAULT_TOOLKIT_STACK_NAME } from '../lib/api/deployment-target';
 import { CdkToolkit } from '../lib/cdk-toolkit';
 import { RequireApproval } from '../lib/diff';
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ async function parseCommandLineArguments() {
     .option('toolkit-stack-name', { type: 'string', desc: 'The name of the CDK toolkit stack', requiresArg: true })
     .option('staging', { type: 'boolean', desc: 'copy assets to the output directory (use --no-staging to disable, needed for local debugging the source files with SAM CLI)', default: true })
     .option('output', { type: 'string', alias: 'o', desc: 'emits the synthesized cloud assembly into a directory (default: cdk.out)', requiresArg: true })
-    .command([ 'list', 'ls' ], 'Lists all stacks in the app', yargs => yargs
+    .command([ 'list [STACKS..]', 'ls [STACKS..]' ], 'Lists all stacks in the app', yargs => yargs
       .option('long', { type: 'boolean', default: false, alias: 'l', desc: 'display environment information for each stack' }))
     .command([ 'synthesize [STACKS..]', 'synth [STACKS..]' ], 'Synthesizes and prints the CloudFormation template for this stack', yargs => yargs
       .option('exclusively', { type: 'boolean', alias: 'e', desc: 'only deploy requested stacks, don\'t include dependencies' }))
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
     switch (command) {
       case 'ls':
       case 'list':
-        return await cliList({ long: args.long });
+        return await cliList(args.STACKS, { long: args.long });
 
       case 'diff':
         return await cli.diff({
@@ -276,7 +276,10 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
     // Only autoselect dependencies if it doesn't interfere with user request or output options
     const autoSelectDependencies = !exclusively;
 
-    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks(stackNames, autoSelectDependencies ? ExtendedStackSelection.Upstream : ExtendedStackSelection.None);
+    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks(stackNames, {
+      extend: autoSelectDependencies ? ExtendedStackSelection.Upstream : ExtendedStackSelection.None,
+      defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.AllStacks
+    });
 
     // if we have a single stack, print it to STDOUT
     if (stacks.length === 1) {
@@ -295,11 +298,12 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
       return stacks.map(s => s.template);
     }
 
-    return appStacks.assembly!.directory;
+    // no output to stdout
+    return undefined;
   }
 
-  async function cliList(options: { long?: boolean } = { }) {
-    const stacks = await appStacks.listStacks();
+  async function cliList(selectors: string[], options: { long?: boolean } = { }) {
+    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks(selectors, { defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.AllStacks });
 
     // if we are in "long" mode, emit the array as-is (JSON/YAML)
     if (options.long) {
@@ -322,7 +326,10 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
   }
 
   async function cliDestroy(stackNames: string[], exclusively: boolean, force: boolean, roleArn: string | undefined) {
-    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks(stackNames, exclusively ? ExtendedStackSelection.None : ExtendedStackSelection.Downstream);
+    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks(stackNames, {
+      extend: exclusively ? ExtendedStackSelection.None : ExtendedStackSelection.Downstream,
+      defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.OnlySingle
+    });
 
     // The stacks will have been ordered for deployment, so reverse them for deletion.
     stacks.reverse();
@@ -351,7 +358,10 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
    * Match a single stack from the list of available stacks
    */
   async function findStack(name: string): Promise<string> {
-    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks([name], ExtendedStackSelection.None);
+    const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks([name], {
+      extend: ExtendedStackSelection.None,
+      defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.None
+    });
 
     // Could have been a glob so check that we evaluated to exactly one
     if (stacks.length > 1) {
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/environments.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/environments.ts
index ff63349b85e15..17867d35e0a65 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/environments.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/environments.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 import cxapi = require('@aws-cdk/cx-api');
 import minimatch = require('minimatch');
-import { AppStacks, ExtendedStackSelection } from './stacks';
+import { AppStacks } from './stacks';
 
 export async function globEnvironmentsFromStacks(appStacks: AppStacks, environmentGlobs: string[]): Promise<cxapi.Environment[]> {
   if (environmentGlobs.length === 0) {
     environmentGlobs = [ '**' ]; // default to ALL
   }
-  const stacks = await appStacks.selectStacks([], ExtendedStackSelection.None);
+
+  const stacks = await appStacks.listStacks();
 
   const availableEnvironments = distinct(stacks.map(stack => stack.environment)
                             .filter(env => env !== undefined) as cxapi.Environment[]);
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/stacks.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/stacks.ts
index e88d52a2a566e..74e7e7be74858 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/stacks.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/cxapp/stacks.ts
@@ -51,6 +51,37 @@ export interface AppStacksProps {
   synthesizer: Synthesizer;
 }
 
+export interface SelectStacksOptions {
+  /**
+   * Extend the selection to upstread/downstream stacks
+   * @default ExtendedStackSelection.None only select the specified stacks.
+   */
+  extend?: ExtendedStackSelection;
+
+  /**
+   * The behavior if if no selectors are privided.
+   */
+  defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection;
+}
+
+export enum DefaultSelection {
+  /**
+   * Returns an empty selection in case there are no selectors.
+   */
+  None = 'none',
+
+  /**
+   * If the app includes a single stack, returns it. Otherwise throws an exception.
+   * This behavior is used by "deploy".
+   */
+  OnlySingle = 'single',
+
+  /**
+   * If no selectors are provided, returns all stacks in the app.
+   */
+  AllStacks = 'all',
+}
+
 /**
  * Routines to get stacks from an app
  *
@@ -72,7 +103,7 @@ export class AppStacks {
    * It's an error if there are no stacks to select, or if one of the requested parameters
    * refers to a nonexistant stack.
    */
-  public async selectStacks(selectors: string[], extendedSelection: ExtendedStackSelection): Promise<cxapi.CloudFormationStackArtifact[]> {
+  public async selectStacks(selectors: string[], options: SelectStacksOptions): Promise<cxapi.CloudFormationStackArtifact[]> {
     selectors = selectors.filter(s => s != null); // filter null/undefined
 
     const stacks = await this.listStacks();
@@ -81,9 +112,21 @@ export class AppStacks {
     }
 
     if (selectors.length === 0) {
-      // remove non-auto deployed Stacks
-      debug('Stack name not specified, so defaulting to all available stacks: ' + listStackNames(stacks));
-      return stacks;
+      switch (options.defaultBehavior) {
+        case DefaultSelection.AllStacks:
+          return stacks;
+        case DefaultSelection.None:
+          return [];
+        case DefaultSelection.OnlySingle:
+          if (stacks.length === 1) {
+            return stacks;
+          } else {
+            throw new Error(`Since this app includes more than a single stack, specify which stacks to use (wildcards are supported)\n` +
+              `Stacks: ${stacks.map(x => x.name).join(' ')}`);
+          }
+        default:
+          throw new Error(`invalid default behavior: ${options.defaultBehavior}`);
+      }
     }
 
     const allStacks = new Map<string, cxapi.CloudFormationStackArtifact>();
@@ -108,7 +151,8 @@ export class AppStacks {
       }
     }
 
-    switch (extendedSelection) {
+    const extend = options.extend || ExtendedStackSelection.None;
+    switch (extend) {
       case ExtendedStackSelection.Downstream:
         includeDownstreamStacks(selectedStacks, allStacks);
         break;
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cdk-toolkit.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cdk-toolkit.ts
index 5ca800ed07690..b62617da4333d 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cdk-toolkit.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cdk-toolkit.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import colors = require('colors/safe');
 import fs = require('fs-extra');
 import { format } from 'util';
-import { AppStacks, ExtendedStackSelection, Tag } from "./api/cxapp/stacks";
+import { AppStacks, DefaultSelection, ExtendedStackSelection, Tag } from "./api/cxapp/stacks";
 import { IDeploymentTarget } from './api/deployment-target';
 import { printSecurityDiff, printStackDiff, RequireApproval } from './diff';
 import { data, error, highlight, print, success } from './logging';
@@ -38,9 +38,10 @@ export class CdkToolkit {
   }
 
   public async diff(options: DiffOptions): Promise<number> {
-    const stacks = await this.appStacks.selectStacks(
-      options.stackNames,
-      options.exclusively ? ExtendedStackSelection.None : ExtendedStackSelection.Upstream);
+    const stacks = await this.appStacks.selectStacks(options.stackNames, {
+      extend: options.exclusively ? ExtendedStackSelection.None : ExtendedStackSelection.Upstream,
+      defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.AllStacks
+    });
 
     const strict = !!options.strict;
     const contextLines = options.contextLines || 3;
@@ -75,9 +76,10 @@ export class CdkToolkit {
   public async deploy(options: DeployOptions) {
     const requireApproval = options.requireApproval !== undefined ? options.requireApproval : RequireApproval.Broadening;
 
-    const stacks = await this.appStacks.selectStacks(
-      options.stackNames,
-      options.exclusively ? ExtendedStackSelection.None : ExtendedStackSelection.Upstream);
+    const stacks = await this.appStacks.selectStacks(options.stackNames, {
+      extend: options.exclusively ? ExtendedStackSelection.None : ExtendedStackSelection.Upstream,
+      defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.OnlySingle
+    });
 
     for (const stack of stacks) {
       if (stacks.length !== 1) { highlight(stack.name); }
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/test.stacks.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/test.stacks.ts
index 032914a5f5003..ceb172ea18c9a 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/test.stacks.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/test.stacks.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import cxapi = require('@aws-cdk/cx-api');
 import { Test } from 'nodeunit';
 import { SDK } from '../../lib';
-import { AppStacks, ExtendedStackSelection } from '../../lib/api/cxapp/stacks';
+import { AppStacks, DefaultSelection } from '../../lib/api/cxapp/stacks';
 import { Configuration } from '../../lib/settings';
 import { testAssembly } from '../util';
 
@@ -25,14 +25,12 @@ const FIXED_RESULT = testAssembly({
 export = {
   async 'do not throw when selecting stack without errors'(test: Test) {
     // GIVEN
-    const stacks = new AppStacks({
-      configuration: new Configuration(),
-      aws: new SDK(),
-      synthesizer: async () => FIXED_RESULT,
-    });
+    const stacks = testStacks();
 
     // WHEN
-    const selected = await stacks.selectStacks(['withouterrors'], ExtendedStackSelection.None);
+    const selected = await stacks.selectStacks(['withouterrors'], {
+      defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.AllStacks
+    });
 
     // THEN
     test.equal(selected[0].template.resource, 'noerrorresource');
@@ -42,15 +40,14 @@ export = {
 
   async 'do throw when selecting stack with errors'(test: Test) {
     // GIVEN
-    const stacks = new AppStacks({
-      configuration: new Configuration(),
-      aws: new SDK(),
-      synthesizer: async () => FIXED_RESULT,
-    });
+    const stacks = testStacks();
 
     // WHEN
     try {
-      await stacks.selectStacks(['witherrors'], ExtendedStackSelection.None);
+      await stacks.selectStacks(['witherrors'], {
+        defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.AllStacks
+      });
+
       test.ok(false, 'Did not get exception');
     } catch (e) {
       test.ok(/Found errors/.test(e.toString()), 'Wrong error');
@@ -58,4 +55,54 @@ export = {
 
     test.done();
   },
+
+  async 'select behavior: all'(test: Test) {
+    // GIVEN
+    const stacks = testStacks();
+
+    // WHEN
+    const x = await stacks.selectStacks([], { defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.AllStacks });
+
+    // THEN
+    test.deepEqual(x.length, 2);
+    test.done();
+  },
+
+  async 'select behavior: none'(test: Test) {
+    // GIVEN
+    const stacks = testStacks();
+
+    // WHEN
+    const x = await stacks.selectStacks([], { defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.None });
+
+    // THEN
+    test.deepEqual(x.length, 0);
+    test.done();
+  },
+
+  async 'select behavior: single'(test: Test) {
+    // GIVEN
+    const stacks = testStacks();
+
+    // WHEN
+    let thrown: string | undefined;
+    try {
+      await stacks.selectStacks([], { defaultBehavior: DefaultSelection.OnlySingle });
+    } catch (e) {
+      thrown = e.message;
+    }
+
+    // THEN
+    test.ok(thrown && thrown.includes('Since this app includes more than a single stack, specify which stacks to use (wildcards are supported)'));
+    test.done();
+  }
+
 };
+
+function testStacks() {
+  return new AppStacks({
+    configuration: new Configuration(),
+    aws: new SDK(),
+    synthesizer: async () => FIXED_RESULT,
+  });
+}
\ No newline at end of file