diff --git a/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee b/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
index 2ce626cfb..10fbd3d7e 100644
--- a/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/app/edit-session-spec.coffee
@@ -1918,7 +1918,7 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
 
   describe "auto-indent", ->
     describe "editor.autoIndent", ->
-      it "auto-indents newlines if editor.autoIndent is undefined (the default)", ->
+      it "auto-indents newlines if editor.autoIndent is true", ->
         config.set("editor.autoIndent", undefined)
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([1, 30])
         editSession.insertText("\n")
@@ -1930,8 +1930,8 @@ describe "EditSession", ->
         editSession.insertText("\n")
         expect(editSession.lineForBufferRow(2)).toBe ""
 
-      it "auto-indents calls to `indent` if editor.autoIndent is undefined (the default)", ->
-        config.set("editor.autoIndent", undefined)
+      it "auto-indents calls to `indent` if editor.autoIndent is true", ->
+        config.set("editor.autoIndent", true)
         editSession.setCursorBufferPosition([1, 30])
         editSession.insertText("\n ")
         expect(editSession.lineForBufferRow(2)).toBe " "
diff --git a/src/app/edit-session.coffee b/src/app/edit-session.coffee
index 1a20813cc..8d7d3f03c 100644
--- a/src/app/edit-session.coffee
+++ b/src/app/edit-session.coffee
@@ -158,10 +158,10 @@ class EditSession
   logScreenLines: (start, end) -> @displayBuffer.logLines(start, end)
 
   shouldAutoIndent: ->
-    config.get("editor.autoIndent") ? true
+    config.get("editor.autoIndent")
 
   shouldAutoIndentPastedText: ->
-    config.get("editor.autoIndentOnPaste") ? false
+    config.get("editor.autoIndentOnPaste")
 
   insertText: (text, options={}) ->
     options.autoIndent ?= @shouldAutoIndent()
diff --git a/src/app/editor.coffee b/src/app/editor.coffee
index 40b64d64d..e8bb77dfd 100644
--- a/src/app/editor.coffee
+++ b/src/app/editor.coffee
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ class Editor extends View
     fontSize: 20
     showInvisibles: false
     autosave: false
+    autoIndent: true
+    autoIndentOnPaste: false
 
   @content: (params) ->
     @div class: @classes(params), tabindex: -1, =>