diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 7fd4035cb5..311fcebaf5 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -919,11 +919,12 @@ color.ui::
 	as `color.diff` and `color.grep` that control the use of color
 	per command family. Its scope will expand as more commands learn
 	configuration to set a default for the `--color` option.  Set it
-	to `always` if you want all output not intended for machine
-	consumption to use color, to `true` or `auto` if you want such
-	output to use color when written to the terminal, or to `false` or
-	`never` if you prefer Git commands not to use color unless enabled
-	explicitly with some other configuration or the `--color` option.
+	to `false` or `never` if you prefer Git commands not to use
+	color unless enabled explicitly with some other configuration
+	or the `--color` option. Set it to `always` if you want all
+	output not intended for machine consumption to use color, to
+	`true` or `auto` (this is the default since Git 1.8.4) if you
+	want such output to use color when written to the terminal.
 
 column.ui::
 	Specify whether supported commands should output in columns.
diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index 19ffcaf187..7759671eb8 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -329,6 +329,7 @@ static int get_colorbool(int print)
 {
 	get_colorbool_found = -1;
 	get_diff_color_found = -1;
+	get_color_ui_found = -1;
 	git_config_with_options(git_get_colorbool_config, NULL,
 				given_config_file, respect_includes);
 
@@ -339,6 +340,10 @@ static int get_colorbool(int print)
 			get_colorbool_found = get_color_ui_found;
 	}
 
+	if (get_colorbool_found < 0)
+		/* default value if none found in config */
+		get_colorbool_found = GIT_COLOR_AUTO;
+
 	get_colorbool_found = want_color(get_colorbool_found);
 
 	if (print) {
diff --git a/color.c b/color.c
index e8e26818b3..f672885b71 100644
--- a/color.c
+++ b/color.c
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include "cache.h"
 #include "color.h"
 
-static int git_use_color_default = 0;
+static int git_use_color_default = GIT_COLOR_AUTO;
 int color_stdout_is_tty = -1;
 
 /*