diff --git a/builtin/push.c b/builtin/push.c
index cfa20c266..12f5e6939 100644
--- a/builtin/push.c
+++ b/builtin/push.c
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ static const char message_detached_head_die[] =
 	   "    git push %s HEAD:<name-of-remote-branch>\n");
 
 static void setup_push_upstream(struct remote *remote, struct branch *branch,
-				int triangular)
+				int triangular, int simple)
 {
 	struct strbuf refspec = STRBUF_INIT;
 
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ static void setup_push_upstream(struct remote *remote, struct branch *branch,
 		      "to update which remote branch."),
 		    remote->name, branch->name);
 
-	if (push_default == PUSH_DEFAULT_SIMPLE) {
+	if (simple) {
 		/* Additional safety */
 		if (strcmp(branch->refname, branch->merge[0]->src))
 			die_push_simple(branch, remote);
@@ -257,11 +257,11 @@ static void setup_default_push_refspecs(struct remote *remote)
 		if (triangular)
 			setup_push_current(remote, branch);
 		else
-			setup_push_upstream(remote, branch, triangular);
+			setup_push_upstream(remote, branch, triangular, 1);
 		break;
 
 	case PUSH_DEFAULT_UPSTREAM:
-		setup_push_upstream(remote, branch, triangular);
+		setup_push_upstream(remote, branch, triangular, 0);
 		break;
 
 	case PUSH_DEFAULT_CURRENT:
diff --git a/t/t5528-push-default.sh b/t/t5528-push-default.sh
index 6a5ac3add..cc7451908 100755
--- a/t/t5528-push-default.sh
+++ b/t/t5528-push-default.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ check_pushed_commit () {
 # $2 = expected target branch for the push
 # $3 = [optional] repo to check for actual output (repo1 by default)
 test_push_success () {
-	git -c push.default="$1" push &&
+	git ${1:+-c push.default="$1"} push &&
 	check_pushed_commit HEAD "$2" "$3"
 }
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ test_push_success () {
 # check that push fails and does not modify any remote branch
 test_push_failure () {
 	git --git-dir=repo1 log --no-walk --format='%h %s' --all >expect &&
-	test_must_fail git -c push.default="$1" push &&
+	test_must_fail git ${1:+-c push.default="$1"} push &&
 	git --git-dir=repo1 log --no-walk --format='%h %s' --all >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 }
@@ -172,4 +172,32 @@ test_pushdefault_workflow success simple master triangular
 # master is updated (parent2 does not have foo)
 test_pushdefault_workflow success matching master triangular
 
+# default tests, when no push-default is specified. This
+# should behave the same as "simple" in non-triangular
+# settings, and as "current" otherwise.
+
+test_expect_success 'default behavior allows "simple" push' '
+	test_config branch.master.remote parent1 &&
+	test_config branch.master.merge refs/heads/master &&
+	test_config remote.pushdefault parent1 &&
+	test_commit default-master-master &&
+	test_push_success "" master
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'default behavior rejects non-simple push' '
+	test_config branch.master.remote parent1 &&
+	test_config branch.master.merge refs/heads/foo &&
+	test_config remote.pushdefault parent1 &&
+	test_commit default-master-foo &&
+	test_push_failure ""
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'default triangular behavior acts like "current"' '
+	test_config branch.master.remote parent1 &&
+	test_config branch.master.merge refs/heads/foo &&
+	test_config remote.pushdefault parent2 &&
+	test_commit default-triangular &&
+	test_push_success "" master repo2
+'
+
 test_done