diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a3305d4e..d1817fcc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -250,13 +250,15 @@ node example.js -x 1 2 -x 3 4
 { _: [], x: [[1, 2], [3, 4]] }
 ```
 
-### `populate--`
+### populate --
 
-* default: `true`.
+* default: `false`.
+* key: `populate--`
 
 Should unparsed flags be stored in `--` or `_`.
 
 _If disabled:_
+
 ```sh
 node example.js a -b -- x y
 { _: [ 'a', 'x', 'y' ], b: true }
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 15936de8..73154066 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ function parse (args, opts) {
     'boolean-negation': true,
     'duplicate-arguments-array': true,
     'flatten-duplicate-arrays': true,
-    'populate--': true
+    'populate--': false
   }, opts.configuration)
   var defaults = opts.default || {}
   var configObjects = opts.configObjects || []
diff --git a/test/yargs-parser.js b/test/yargs-parser.js
index 23c8e642..373f8d3c 100644
--- a/test/yargs-parser.js
+++ b/test/yargs-parser.js
@@ -115,16 +115,6 @@ describe('yargs-parser', function () {
     parse.should.have.property('_').and.deep.equal(['bare', '--not-a-flag', '-', '-h', '-multi', '--', 'eek'])
   })
 
-  it('should not populate "--" if parsing was not stopped', function () {
-    var parse = parser([ '-b' ])
-    parse.should.not.have.property('--')
-  })
-
-  it('should populate "--" if parsing is stopped', function () {
-    var parse = parser([ '-b', '--', 'foo bar' ])
-    parse.should.have.property('--')
-  })
-
   it('should parse numbers appropriately', function () {
     var argv = parser([
       '-x', '1234',
@@ -2222,25 +2212,27 @@ describe('yargs-parser', function () {
     })
 
     describe('populate--', function () {
-      it('should populate "_" if "populate-- false', function () {
+      it('should populate "_" by default', function () {
         var result = parser([
           'bare',
           '--', '-h', 'eek', '--'
-        ], {
-          configuration: {'populate--': false}
-        })
+        ])
         result.should.have.property('_').and.deep.equal(['bare', '-h', 'eek', '--'])
         result.should.not.have.property('--')
       })
 
-      it('should populate the "--" array by default', function () {
+      it('should populate the "--" if populate-- is "true"', function () {
         var result = parser([
           '--name=meowmers', 'bare', '-cats', 'woo', 'moxy',
           '-h', 'awesome', '--multi=quux',
           '--key', 'value',
           '-b', '--bool', '--no-meep', '--multi=baz',
           '--', '--not-a-flag', '-', '-h', '-multi', '--', 'eek'
-        ])
+        ], {
+          configuration: {
+            'populate--': true
+          }
+        })
         result.should.have.property('c', true)
         result.should.have.property('a', true)
         result.should.have.property('t', true)