diff --git a/borg/archiver.py b/borg/archiver.py
index fbdf210a1..57e30760e 100644
--- a/borg/archiver.py
+++ b/borg/archiver.py
@@ -571,10 +571,10 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
                                    help='verbose output')
         common_parser.add_argument('--no-files-cache', dest='cache_files', action='store_false',
                                    help='do not load/update the file metadata cache used to detect unchanged files')
-        common_parser.add_argument('--umask', dest='umask', type=lambda s: int(s, 8), default=0o077, metavar='M',
-                                   help='set umask to M (local and remote, default: 0o077)')
-        common_parser.add_argument('--remote-path', dest='remote_path', default='borg', metavar='PATH',
-                                   help='set remote path to executable (default: "borg")')
+        common_parser.add_argument('--umask', dest='umask', type=lambda s: int(s, 8), default=RemoteRepository.umask, metavar='M',
+                                   help='set umask to M (local and remote, default: %(default)s)')
+        common_parser.add_argument('--remote-path', dest='remote_path', default=RemoteRepository.remote_path, metavar='PATH',
+                                   help='set remote path to executable (default: "%(default)s")')
 
         # We can't use argparse for "serve" since we don't want it to show up in "Available commands"
         if args:
diff --git a/borg/remote.py b/borg/remote.py
index 3a274b214..ce77b8245 100644
--- a/borg/remote.py
+++ b/borg/remote.py
@@ -108,8 +108,9 @@ class RepositoryServer:  # pragma: no cover
 
 class RemoteRepository:
     extra_test_args = []
-    remote_path = None
-    umask = None
+    remote_path = 'borg'
+    # default umask, overriden by --umask, defaults to read/write only for owner
+    umask = 0o077
 
     class RPCError(Exception):
         def __init__(self, name):