diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6507d25f..e9e5d250 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ Options that take no arguments can be negated by prefixing them with `--no-`, e.
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td>--dep &lt;value&gt;</td>
-    <td>Check one or more sections of dependencies only: dev, optional, peer, prod, or packageManager (comma-delimited). (default: ["prod","dev","optional"])</td>
+    <td>Check one or more sections of dependencies only: dev, optional, peer, prod, or packageManager (comma-delimited). (default: ["prod","dev","optional","packageManager"])</td>
   </tr>
   <tr>
     <td>--deprecated</td>
diff --git a/src/cli-options.ts b/src/cli-options.ts
index 1b1915ac..d2a94bc9 100755
--- a/src/cli-options.ts
+++ b/src/cli-options.ts
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ const cliOptions: CLIOption[] = [
     arg: 'value',
     description:
       'Check one or more sections of dependencies only: dev, optional, peer, prod, or packageManager (comma-delimited).',
-    default: ['prod', 'dev', 'optional'],
+    default: ['prod', 'dev', 'optional', 'packageManager'],
     parse: value => (value && typeof value === 'string' ? value.split(',') : value),
     type: 'string | string[]',
   },
diff --git a/src/types/RunOptions.json b/src/types/RunOptions.json
index 698eebdb..16c9cbcc 100644
--- a/src/types/RunOptions.json
+++ b/src/types/RunOptions.json
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@
           "type": "string"
         }
       ],
-      "default": ["prod", "dev", "optional"],
+      "default": ["prod", "dev", "optional", "packageManager"],
       "description": "Check one or more sections of dependencies only: dev, optional, peer, prod, or packageManager (comma-delimited)."
     },
     "deprecated": {
diff --git a/src/types/RunOptions.ts b/src/types/RunOptions.ts
index 17a7cc30..e4565233 100644
--- a/src/types/RunOptions.ts
+++ b/src/types/RunOptions.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export interface RunOptions {
 
   /** Check one or more sections of dependencies only: dev, optional, peer, prod, or packageManager (comma-delimited).
    *
-   * @default ["prod","dev","optional"]
+   * @default ["prod","dev","optional","packageManager"]
    */
   dep?: string | string[]
 
diff --git a/test/dep.test.ts b/test/dep.test.ts
index 7bf2bf6a..bc008065 100644
--- a/test/dep.test.ts
+++ b/test/dep.test.ts
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ describe('--dep', () => {
   })
 
   describe('packageManager field', () => {
-    it('support packageManager field', async () => {
+    it('upgrade packageManager field by default', async () => {
       const stub = stubVersions({
         'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
         npm: '9.0.0',
@@ -224,7 +224,6 @@ describe('--dep', () => {
           packageFile: pkgFile,
           jsonUpgraded: false,
           upgrade: true,
-          dep: 'prod,packageManager',
         })
         const pkgDataNew = await fs.readFile(pkgFile, 'utf-8')
         const pkgNew = JSON.parse(pkgDataNew)
@@ -241,6 +240,48 @@ describe('--dep', () => {
       }
     })
 
+    it('do not upgrade packageManager field if missing from --dep', async () => {
+      const stub = stubVersions({
+        'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
+        npm: '9.0.0',
+      })
+      const packageData = JSON.stringify(
+        {
+          packageManager: 'npm@6.0.0',
+          dependencies: {
+            'ncu-test-tag': '0.1.0',
+          },
+        },
+        null,
+        2,
+      )
+
+      const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'npm-check-updates-'))
+      const pkgFile = path.join(tempDir, 'package.json')
+      await fs.writeFile(pkgFile, packageData)
+
+      try {
+        await ncu({
+          packageFile: pkgFile,
+          jsonUpgraded: false,
+          upgrade: true,
+          dep: ['prod'],
+        })
+        const pkgDataNew = await fs.readFile(pkgFile, 'utf-8')
+        const pkgNew = JSON.parse(pkgDataNew)
+
+        pkgNew.should.deep.equal({
+          packageManager: 'npm@6.0.0',
+          dependencies: {
+            'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
+          },
+        })
+      } finally {
+        await fs.rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+        stub.restore()
+      }
+    })
+
     it('do nothing if no packageManager field is present', async () => {
       const stub = stubVersions({
         'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
@@ -265,7 +306,6 @@ describe('--dep', () => {
           packageFile: pkgFile,
           jsonUpgraded: false,
           upgrade: true,
-          dep: 'prod,packageManager',
         })
         const pkgDataNew = await fs.readFile(pkgFile, 'utf-8')
         const pkgNew = JSON.parse(pkgDataNew)
@@ -281,6 +321,48 @@ describe('--dep', () => {
       }
     })
 
+    it('upgrade packageManager field if specified in --dep', async () => {
+      const stub = stubVersions({
+        'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
+        npm: '9.0.0',
+      })
+      const packageData = JSON.stringify(
+        {
+          packageManager: 'npm@6.0.0',
+          dependencies: {
+            'ncu-test-tag': '0.1.0',
+          },
+        },
+        null,
+        2,
+      )
+
+      const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'npm-check-updates-'))
+      const pkgFile = path.join(tempDir, 'package.json')
+      await fs.writeFile(pkgFile, packageData)
+
+      try {
+        await ncu({
+          packageFile: pkgFile,
+          jsonUpgraded: false,
+          upgrade: true,
+          dep: ['prod', 'packageManager'],
+        })
+        const pkgDataNew = await fs.readFile(pkgFile, 'utf-8')
+        const pkgNew = JSON.parse(pkgDataNew)
+
+        pkgNew.should.deep.equal({
+          packageManager: 'npm@9.0.0',
+          dependencies: {
+            'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
+          },
+        })
+      } finally {
+        await fs.rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true })
+        stub.restore()
+      }
+    })
+
     it('do nothing if packageManager is up-to-date', async () => {
       const stub = stubVersions({
         'ncu-test-tag': '1.0.0',
@@ -306,7 +388,6 @@ describe('--dep', () => {
           packageFile: pkgFile,
           jsonUpgraded: false,
           upgrade: true,
-          dep: 'prod,packageManager',
         })
         const pkgDataNew = await fs.readFile(pkgFile, 'utf-8')
         const pkgNew = JSON.parse(pkgDataNew)