diff --git a/RELEASE-NOTES.md b/RELEASE-NOTES.md
index a431259c2..920c43ce5 100644
--- a/RELEASE-NOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASE-NOTES.md
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ Artifacts in this release are signed by Remko Popma (6601 E5C0 8DCC BB96).
 * [#1886][#1896] Bugfix: AsciiDoc generator now correctly outputs options even if all options are in ArgGroups. Thanks to [Ruud Senden](https://github.com/rsenden) for the discussion and the pull request.
 * [#1878][#1876] Bugfix: Annotation processor now avoids loading resource bundles at compile time. Thanks to [Ruud Senden](https://github.com/rsenden) for the discussion and the pull request.
 * [#1911] Avoid using boxed boolean in `CommandLine.Interpreter.applyValueToSingleValuedField`. Thanks to [Jiehong](https://github.com/Jiehong) for the pull request.
-* [#1870] Bugfix: `StringIndexOutOfBoundsException` in usage help when command has too many (and long) aliases. Thanks to [Martin](https://github.com/martlin2cz) for raising this.ji
+* [#1870] Bugfix: `StringIndexOutOfBoundsException` in usage help when command has too many (and long) aliases. Thanks to [Martin](https://github.com/martlin2cz) for raising this.
+* [#1904] Bugfix: Apply `fallbackValue` to vararg multi-value options, not just single-value options. Thanks to [Andreas Sewe](https://github.com/sewe) for raising this.
 * [#1930] Bugfix: Ensure tests pass in environments for Java 5-18.
 * [#1881] DOC: Many documentation improvements. Thanks to [Andreas Deininger](https://github.com/deining) for the pull request.
 * [#1855][#1857] DOC: Add new user manual section called [Rare Use Cases](https://picocli.info/#_rare_use_cases) detailing `System.exit` usage. Thanks to [Tadaya Tsuyukubo](https://github.com/ttddyy) for the pull request.
diff --git a/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java b/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java
index 979892685..a5284fa93 100644
--- a/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java
+++ b/src/main/java/picocli/CommandLine.java
@@ -14318,7 +14318,8 @@ private void consumeMapArguments(ArgSpec argSpec,
             String fallback = consumed == 0 && argSpec.isOption() && !OptionSpec.DEFAULT_FALLBACK_VALUE.equals(((OptionSpec) argSpec).fallbackValue())
                     ? ((OptionSpec) argSpec).fallbackValue()
                     : null;
-            if (fallback != null && (args.isEmpty() || !varargCanConsumeNextValue(argSpec, args.peek()))) {
+            if (fallback != null && (args.isEmpty() || !varargCanConsumeNextValue(argSpec, args.peek())
+                    || !canConsumeOneMapArgument(argSpec, lookBehind, alreadyUnquoted, arity, consumed, args.peek(), classes, keyConverter, valueConverter, argDescription))) {
                 args.push(fallback);
             }
             for (int i = consumed; consumed < arity.max && !args.isEmpty(); i++) {
@@ -14539,7 +14540,8 @@ private List<Object> consumeArguments(ArgSpec argSpec,
             String fallback = consumed == 0 && argSpec.isOption() && !OptionSpec.DEFAULT_FALLBACK_VALUE.equals(((OptionSpec) argSpec).fallbackValue())
                     ? ((OptionSpec) argSpec).fallbackValue()
                     : null;
-            if (fallback != null && (args.isEmpty() || !varargCanConsumeNextValue(argSpec, args.peek()))) {
+            if (fallback != null && (args.isEmpty() || !varargCanConsumeNextValue(argSpec, args.peek())
+                    || (!canConsumeOneArgument(argSpec, lookBehind, alreadyUnquoted, arity, consumed, args.peek(), argDescription)))) {
                 args.push(fallback);
             }
             for (int i = consumed; consumed < arity.max && !args.isEmpty(); i++) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/picocli/FallbackTest.java b/src/test/java/picocli/FallbackTest.java
index f598c7788..6354c0f48 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picocli/FallbackTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picocli/FallbackTest.java
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 import picocli.CommandLine.ParameterException;
 import picocli.CommandLine.Parameters;
 
+import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
 public class FallbackTest {
@@ -108,4 +113,76 @@ class App {
         App app = CommandLine.populateCommand(new App(), "-x");
         assertNull(app.x);
     }
+    static class Issue1904 {
+        enum DebugFacility { FOO, BAR, BAZ, ALL, DEFAULT, FALLBACK }
+
+        @Option(
+            names = { "--debug" },
+            paramLabel = "FACILITY",
+            split = ",",
+            arity = "0..*",
+            defaultValue = "DEFAULT",
+            fallbackValue = "FALLBACK")
+        Collection<DebugFacility> facilities;
+
+        @Option(names = { "--map" }, arity = "0..*",
+            defaultValue = "DEFAULT=0",
+            fallbackValue = "FALLBACK=1")
+        Map<DebugFacility, String> map;
+
+        @Option(names = "-x")
+        String x;
+
+        @Parameters
+        List<String> remainder;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_NoOptions() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904()); // options are not specified
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT, "0"), obj.map);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_NoArgs() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904(), "--debug"); // no args specified
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.FALLBACK), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT, "0"), obj.map);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_NoArgs_map() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904(), "--map"); // no args specified
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.FALLBACK, "1"), obj.map);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_otherOption() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904(), "--debug", "-x", "xarg"); // other option
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.FALLBACK), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT, "0"), obj.map);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_otherOption_map() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904(), "--map", "-x", "xarg"); // other option
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.FALLBACK, "1"), obj.map);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_positional() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904(), "--debug", "123"); // positional
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.FALLBACK), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT, "0"), obj.map);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue1904CollectionFallback_positional_map() {
+        Issue1904 obj = CommandLine.populateCommand(new Issue1904(), "--map", "123"); // positional
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonList(Issue1904.DebugFacility.DEFAULT), obj.facilities);
+        assertEquals(Collections.singletonMap(Issue1904.DebugFacility.FALLBACK, "1"), obj.map);
+    }
 }