diff --git a/doc/ChangeLog b/doc/ChangeLog
index a879fcb8..9c50b60d 100644
--- a/doc/ChangeLog
+++ b/doc/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2008-11-15  Steven Schubiger  <stsc@members.fsf.org>
+
+	* sample.wgetrc: Comment the waitretry "default" value, 
+	because there is a global one now.
+
+	* wget.texi (Download Options): Mention the global 
+	default value.
+
 2008-11-10  Micah Cowan  <micah@cowan.name>
 
 	* Makefile.am (EXTRA_DIST): Removed no-longer-present
diff --git a/doc/sample.wgetrc b/doc/sample.wgetrc
index c69596bf..08e810fd 100644
--- a/doc/sample.wgetrc
+++ b/doc/sample.wgetrc
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 # downloads, set waitretry to maximum number of seconds to wait (Wget
 # will use "linear backoff", waiting 1 second after the first failure
 # on a file, 2 seconds after the second failure, etc. up to this max).
-waitretry = 10
+#waitretry = 10
 
 
 ##
diff --git a/doc/wget.texi b/doc/wget.texi
index 8af74d94..6e0dd0a0 100644
--- a/doc/wget.texi
+++ b/doc/wget.texi
@@ -822,10 +822,9 @@ use @dfn{linear backoff}, waiting 1 second after the first failure on a
 given file, then waiting 2 seconds after the second failure on that
 file, up to the maximum number of @var{seconds} you specify.  Therefore,
 a value of 10 will actually make Wget wait up to (1 + 2 + ... + 10) = 55
-seconds per file.
+seconds per file. 
 
-Note that this option is turned on by default in the global
-@file{wgetrc} file.
+By default, Wget will assume a value of 10 seconds.
 
 @cindex wait, random
 @cindex random wait
diff --git a/src/ChangeLog b/src/ChangeLog
index 68348d1f..407ee757 100644
--- a/src/ChangeLog
+++ b/src/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2008-11-15  Steven Schubiger  <stsc@members.fsf.org>
+
+	* init.c (defaults): Set default waitretry value.
+
 2008-11-14  Steven Schubiger  <stsc@members.fsf.org>
 
 	* main.c (format_and_print_line): Use a custom format 
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index 768bebd1..06a4d3c8 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -331,6 +331,8 @@ defaults (void)
   opt.restrict_files_case = restrict_no_case_restriction;
 
   opt.max_redirect = 20;
+
+  opt.waitretry = 10;
 }
 
 /* Return the user's home directory (strdup-ed), or NULL if none is