diff --git a/cmd/gh/main.go b/cmd/gh/main.go
index 7ee00b061..236943475 100644
--- a/cmd/gh/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gh/main.go
@@ -159,11 +159,17 @@ func mainRun() exitCode {
 
 	cs := cmdFactory.IOStreams.ColorScheme()
 
-	if cmd != nil && cmdutil.IsAuthCheckEnabled(cmd) && !cmdutil.CheckAuth(cfg) {
-		fmt.Fprintln(stderr, cs.Bold("Welcome to GitHub CLI!"))
-		fmt.Fprintln(stderr)
-		fmt.Fprintln(stderr, "To authenticate, please run `gh auth login`.")
-		return exitAuth
+	authError := errors.New("authError")
+	rootCmd.PersistentPreRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		// require that the user is authenticated before running most commands
+		if cmdutil.IsAuthCheckEnabled(cmd) && !cmdutil.CheckAuth(cfg) {
+			fmt.Fprintln(stderr, cs.Bold("Welcome to GitHub CLI!"))
+			fmt.Fprintln(stderr)
+			fmt.Fprintln(stderr, "To authenticate, please run `gh auth login`.")
+			return authError
+		}
+
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	rootCmd.SetArgs(expandedArgs)
@@ -177,6 +183,8 @@ func mainRun() exitCode {
 				fmt.Fprint(stderr, "\n")
 			}
 			return exitCancel
+		} else if errors.Is(err, authError) {
+			return exitAuth
 		}
 
 		printError(stderr, err, cmd, hasDebug)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/actions/actions.go b/pkg/cmd/actions/actions.go
index 356ca1581..7880a9a6c 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/actions/actions.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/actions/actions.go
@@ -9,39 +9,30 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
-type ActionsOptions struct {
-	IO *iostreams.IOStreams
-}
-
 func NewCmdActions(f *cmdutil.Factory) *cobra.Command {
-	opts := ActionsOptions{
-		IO: f.IOStreams,
-	}
+	cs := f.IOStreams.ColorScheme()
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "actions",
 		Short: "Learn about working with GitHub actions",
-		Long:  actionsExplainer(nil),
+		Long:  actionsExplainer(cs),
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-			actionsRun(opts)
+			fmt.Fprintln(f.IOStreams.Out, actionsExplainer(cs))
 		},
 		Annotations: map[string]string{
 			"IsActions": "true",
 		},
 	}
 
+	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
+
 	return cmd
 }
 
 func actionsExplainer(cs *iostreams.ColorScheme) string {
-	header := "Welcome to GitHub Actions on the command line."
-	runHeader := "Interacting with workflow runs"
-	workflowHeader := "Interacting with workflow files"
-	if cs != nil {
-		header = cs.Bold(header)
-		runHeader = cs.Bold(runHeader)
-		workflowHeader = cs.Bold(workflowHeader)
-	}
+	header := cs.Bold("Welcome to GitHub Actions on the command line.")
+	runHeader := cs.Bold("Interacting with workflow runs")
+	workflowHeader := cs.Bold("Interacting with workflow files")
 
 	return heredoc.Docf(`
 			%s
@@ -70,8 +61,3 @@ func actionsExplainer(cs *iostreams.ColorScheme) string {
 			<https://docs.github.com/en/actions/guides/managing-github-actions-with-github-cli>
 		`, header, runHeader, workflowHeader)
 }
-
-func actionsRun(opts ActionsOptions) {
-	cs := opts.IO.ColorScheme()
-	fmt.Fprintln(opts.IO.Out, actionsExplainer(cs))
-}
diff --git a/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go b/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go
index 10df9fade..ab536f6b2 100644
--- a/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go
+++ b/pkg/cmdutil/auth_check.go
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
-// TODO can have this set a PersistentPreRun so we don't have to set for all child commands of auth,
-// config
-
 func DisableAuthCheck(cmd *cobra.Command) {
 	if cmd.Annotations == nil {
 		cmd.Annotations = map[string]string{}
@@ -37,7 +34,7 @@ func CheckAuth(cfg config.Config) bool {
 }
 
 func IsAuthCheckEnabled(cmd *cobra.Command) bool {
-	if !cmd.Runnable() {
+	if cmd.Name() == "help" {
 		return false
 	}
 	for c := cmd; c.Parent() != nil; c = c.Parent() {
diff --git a/pkg/cmdutil/repo_override.go b/pkg/cmdutil/repo_override.go
index c5d996c70..6ce68011b 100644
--- a/pkg/cmdutil/repo_override.go
+++ b/pkg/cmdutil/repo_override.go
@@ -7,12 +7,26 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
+func executeParentHooks(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	for cmd.HasParent() {
+		cmd = cmd.Parent()
+		if cmd.PersistentPreRunE != nil {
+			return cmd.PersistentPreRunE(cmd, args)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func EnableRepoOverride(cmd *cobra.Command, f *Factory) {
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().StringP("repo", "R", "", "Select another repository using the `[HOST/]OWNER/REPO` format")
 
-	cmd.PersistentPreRun = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+	cmd.PersistentPreRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+		if err := executeParentHooks(cmd, args); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		repoOverride, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("repo")
 		f.BaseRepo = OverrideBaseRepoFunc(f, repoOverride)
+		return nil
 	}
 }