diff --git a/lib/newrelic/agent/agent.rb b/lib/newrelic/agent/agent.rb
index 0c2d4bb59f..45131ccb4d 100644
--- a/lib/newrelic/agent/agent.rb
+++ b/lib/newrelic/agent/agent.rb
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ def start_reporting(force_enable=false)
       sampler_config = config.fetch('transaction_tracer', {})
       
       @use_transaction_sampler = sampler_config.fetch('enabled', false)
-      @record_sql = sampler_config.fetch('record_sql', :obfuscated).intern
+      @record_sql = (sampler_config.fetch('record_sql') || 'obfuscated').intern
       @slowest_transaction_threshold = sampler_config.fetch('transaction_threshold', '2.0').to_f
       @explain_threshold = sampler_config.fetch('explain_threshold', '0.5').to_f
       @explain_enabled = sampler_config.fetch('explain_enabled', true)
diff --git a/version.txt b/version.txt
index 9ee27bc626..598bcffe17 100644
--- a/version.txt
+++ b/version.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+2008-07-11 version 2.3.4
+  * bugfix for absent transaction trace config
 2008-07-10 version 2.3.3
   * bugfix for non-mysql databases
 2008-07-07 version 2.3.2