diff --git a/tools/idf_tools.py b/tools/idf_tools.py
index cf9909c06f..c375524fc2 100755
--- a/tools/idf_tools.py
+++ b/tools/idf_tools.py
@@ -1715,7 +1715,7 @@ def main(argv):  # type: (list[str]) -> None
                          ' It defaults to installing all supported targets.')
 
     download = subparsers.add_parser('download', help='Download the tools into the dist directory')
-    download.add_argument('--platform', help='Platform to download the tools for')
+    download.add_argument('--platform', default=CURRENT_PLATFORM, help='Platform to download the tools for')
     download.add_argument('tools', metavar='TOOL', nargs='*', default=['required'],
                           help='Tools to download. ' +
                           'To download a specific version use <tool_name>@<version> syntax. ' +