diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index ae62b21d..24434ff1 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -3092,6 +3092,17 @@ set_rl_edit_mode(const char *val)
 		rl_emacs_editing_mode(1, 0);
 }
 
+static void
+set_default_answers_to_default(void)
+{
+	conf.default_answer.remove = DEF_ANSWER_REMOVE;
+	conf.default_answer.trash = DEF_ANSWER_TRASH;
+	conf.default_answer.bulk_rename = DEF_ANSWER_BULK_RENAME;
+	conf.default_answer.overwrite = DEF_ANSWER_OVERWRITE;
+	conf.default_answer.default_ = DEF_ANSWER_DEFAULT;
+	conf.default_answer.default_all = DEF_ANSWER_DEFAULT_ALL;
+}
+
 /* Read the main configuration file and set options accordingly */
 static void
 read_config(void)
@@ -3109,6 +3120,7 @@ read_config(void)
 	if (xargs.rl_vi_mode == 1)
 		rl_vi_editing_mode(1, 0);
 
+	int default_answers_set = 0;
 	int ret = -1;
 	conf.max_name_len = DEF_MAX_NAME_LEN;
 	*div_line = *DEF_DIV_LINE;
@@ -3204,6 +3216,7 @@ read_config(void)
 		}
 
 		else if (*line == 'D' && strncmp(line, "DefaultAnswer=", 14) == 0) {
+			default_answers_set = 1;
 			set_default_answers(line + 14);
 		}
 
@@ -3602,6 +3615,9 @@ read_config(void)
 
 	fclose(config_fp);
 
+	if (default_answers_set == 0)
+		set_default_answers_to_default();
+
 	if (xargs.disk_usage_analyzer == 1) {
 		conf.sort = STSIZE;
 		conf.long_view = conf.full_dir_size = 1;
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index 29dbe6be..d05ea830 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -192,12 +192,12 @@ init_conf_struct(void)
 	conf.color_lnk_as_target = UNSET;
 	conf.columned = DEF_COLUMNS;
 	conf.cp_cmd = DEF_CP_CMD;
-	conf.default_answer.remove = DEF_ANSWER_REMOVE;
-	conf.default_answer.trash = DEF_ANSWER_TRASH;
-	conf.default_answer.bulk_rename = DEF_ANSWER_BULK_RENAME;
-	conf.default_answer.overwrite = DEF_ANSWER_OVERWRITE;
-	conf.default_answer.default_ = DEF_ANSWER_DEFAULT;
-	conf.default_answer.default_all = DEF_ANSWER_DEFAULT_ALL;
+	conf.default_answer.remove = 0;
+	conf.default_answer.trash = 0;
+	conf.default_answer.bulk_rename = 0;
+	conf.default_answer.overwrite = 0;
+	conf.default_answer.default_ = 0;
+	conf.default_answer.default_all = 0;
 	conf.desktop_notifications = UNSET;
 	conf.dirhist_map = UNSET;
 	conf.disk_usage = UNSET;