diff --git a/zmq.hpp b/zmq.hpp
index 460b35f1..b9b2608c 100644
--- a/zmq.hpp
+++ b/zmq.hpp
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ namespace zmq
         }
 
 
-        inline explicit context_t (int io_threads_, int max_sockets_ = 1024)
+        inline explicit context_t (int io_threads_, int max_sockets_ = ZMQ_MAX_SOCKETS_DFLT)
         {
             ptr = zmq_ctx_new ();
             if (ptr == NULL)