diff --git a/command/snapshot/inspect/snapshot_inspect.go b/command/snapshot/inspect/snapshot_inspect.go
index 3ddd30300..5c40c1c67 100644
--- a/command/snapshot/inspect/snapshot_inspect.go
+++ b/command/snapshot/inspect/snapshot_inspect.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ func (c *cmd) init() {
 	c.flags = flag.NewFlagSet("", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	c.flags.BoolVar(&c.kvDetails, "kvdetails", false,
 		"Provides a detailed KV space usage breakdown for any KV data that's been stored.")
-	c.flags.IntVar(&c.kvDepth, "kvdepth", 2,
+	c.flags.IntVar(&c.kvDepth, "kvdepth", 0,
 		"Can only be used with -kvdetails. The key prefix depth used to breakdown KV store data. Defaults to 2.")
 	c.flags.StringVar(&c.kvFilter, "kvfilter", "",
 		"Can only be used with -kvdetails. Limits KV key breakdown using this prefix filter.")
@@ -103,6 +103,20 @@ func (c *cmd) Run(args []string) int {
 		return 1
 	}
 
+	// automatically set kvDetails to true if a depth or filter
+	// is provided. this allows the user to omit the -kvdetails
+	// flag if they prefer.
+	if c.kvDepth != 0 || c.kvFilter != "" {
+		c.kvDetails = true
+	}
+
+	// set the default depth if one wasn't specified with -kvdepth.
+	// this is used rather than the flag default to facilitate the
+	// above shortcut.
+	if c.kvDetails && c.kvDepth == 0 {
+		c.kvDepth = 2
+	}
+
 	// Open the file.
 	f, err := os.Open(file)
 	if err != nil {