diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb b/railties/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb
index e5476fbe7ad0f..bd8c314da64f9 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/application/configuration.rb
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def initialize(*)
         @assets = ActiveSupport::OrderedOptions.new
         @assets.enabled    = false
         @assets.paths      = []
-        @assets.precompile = []
+        @assets.precompile = [ /\w+\.(?!js|css)$/, "application.js", "application.css" ]
         @assets.prefix     = "/assets"
       end