diff --git a/doc/tools/piv-tool.1.xml b/doc/tools/piv-tool.1.xml
index e9b77629..70619cce 100644
--- a/doc/tools/piv-tool.1.xml
+++ b/doc/tools/piv-tool.1.xml
@@ -163,19 +163,6 @@
 						</para>
 					</listitem>
 				</varlistentry>
-				<varlistentry>
-					<term>
-						<option>--card-driver</option> <replaceable>driver</replaceable>,
-						<option>-c</option> <replaceable>driver</replaceable>
-					</term>
-					<listitem><para>
-						Use the given card driver.
-						The default is to auto-detect the correct card driver.
-						The literal value <literal>?</literal> lists
-						all available card drivers and terminates
-						<command>piv-tool</command>.
-					</para></listitem>
-				</varlistentry>
 				<varlistentry>
 					<term>
 						<option>--wait</option>,
diff --git a/src/tools/piv-tool.c b/src/tools/piv-tool.c
index 5be365dc..fbc2ab3f 100644
--- a/src/tools/piv-tool.c
+++ b/src/tools/piv-tool.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 
 #include "libopensc/opensc.h"
 #include "libopensc/cardctl.h"
+#include "libopensc/cards.h"
 #include "libopensc/asn1.h"
 #include "util.h"
 #include "libopensc/sc-ossl-compat.h"
@@ -80,7 +81,6 @@ static const struct option options[] = {
 	{ "in",			1, NULL, 		'i' },
 	{ "send-apdu",		1, NULL,		's' },
 	{ "reader",		1, NULL,		'r' },
-	{ "card-driver",	1, NULL,		'c' },
 	{ "wait",		0, NULL,		'w' },
 	{ "verbose",		0, NULL,		'v' },
 	{ NULL, 0, NULL, 0 }
@@ -98,7 +98,6 @@ static const char *option_help[] = {
 	"Input file for cert",
 	"Sends an APDU in format AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF...",
 	"Uses reader number <arg> [0]",
-	"Forces the use of driver <arg> [auto-detect; '?' for list]",
 	"Wait for a card to be inserted",
 	"Verbose operation. Use several times to enable debug output.",
 };
@@ -469,7 +468,7 @@ static void print_serial(sc_card_t *in_card)
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
-	int err = 0, r, c, long_optind = 0;
+	int err = 0, r, c;
 	int do_send_apdu = 0;
 	int do_admin_mode = 0;
 	int do_gen_key = 0;
@@ -478,9 +477,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int compress_cert = 0;
 	int do_print_serial = 0;
 	int do_print_name = 0;
-	int do_list_card_drivers = 0;
 	int action_count = 0;
-	const char *opt_driver = NULL;
 	const char *out_file = NULL;
 	const char *in_file = NULL;
 	const char *cert_id = NULL;
@@ -490,12 +487,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	sc_context_param_t ctx_param;
 	char **old_apdus = NULL;
 
-	while (1) {
-		c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "nA:G:O:Z:C:i:o:fvs:c:w", options, &long_optind);
-		if (c == -1)
-			break;
-		if (c == '?')
-			util_print_usage_and_die(app_name, options, option_help, NULL);
+	while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "nA:G:O:Z:C:i:o:r:fvs:c:w", options, (int *) 0)) != -1) {
 		switch (c) {
 		case OPT_SERIAL:
 			do_print_serial = 1;
@@ -555,19 +547,11 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		case 'v':
 			verbose++;
 			break;
-		case 'c':
-			opt_driver = optarg;
-
-			/* special card driver value "?" means: list available drivers */
-			if (opt_driver != NULL && strncmp("?", opt_driver, sizeof("?")) == 0) {
-				opt_driver = NULL;
-				do_list_card_drivers = 1;
-				action_count++;
-			}
-			break;
 		case 'w':
 			opt_wait = 1;
 			break;
+		default:
+			util_print_usage_and_die(app_name, options, option_help, NULL);
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -612,24 +596,25 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (action_count <= 0)
 		goto end;
 
-	if (do_list_card_drivers) {
-		err = util_list_card_drivers(ctx);
+	/* force PIV card driver */
+	err = sc_set_card_driver(ctx, "PIV-II");
+	if (err) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "PIV card driver not found!\n");
+		err = 1;
 		goto end;
 	}
 
-	if (opt_driver != NULL) {
-		err = sc_set_card_driver(ctx, opt_driver);
-		if (err) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Driver '%s' not found!\n", opt_driver);
-			err = 1;
-			goto end;
-		}
-	}
-
 	err = util_connect_card(ctx, &card, opt_reader, opt_wait, verbose);
 	if (err)
 		goto end;
 
+	/* fail if card is not a PIV card */
+	if (card->type < SC_CARD_TYPE_PIV_II_BASE || card->type >= SC_CARD_TYPE_PIV_II_BASE+1000) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Card type %X: not a PIV card\n", card->type);
+		err = 1;
+		goto end;
+	}
+
 	if (do_admin_mode) {
 		if ((err = admin_mode(admin_info)))
 			goto end;