diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6e1854ff9..8009d6808 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ to a single process.
       - `allowUpgrades` (`Boolean`): whether to allow transport upgrades
         (`true`)
       - `perMessageDeflate` (`Object|Boolean`): parameters of the WebSocket permessage-deflate extension
-        (see [ws module](https://github.com/einaros/ws) api docs). Set to `false` to disable. (`true`)
+        (see [ws module](https://github.com/einaros/ws) api docs). Set to `true` to enable. (`false`)
         - `threshold` (`Number`): data is compressed only if the byte size is above this value (`1024`)
       - `httpCompression` (`Object|Boolean`): parameters of the http compression for the polling transports
         (see [zlib](http://nodejs.org/api/zlib.html#zlib_options) api docs). Set to `false` to disable. (`true`)
diff --git a/lib/server.js b/lib/server.js
index 6d998e8fb..e64c6293a 100644
--- a/lib/server.js
+++ b/lib/server.js
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ function Server (opts) {
   this.cookie = false !== opts.cookie ? (opts.cookie || 'io') : false;
   this.cookiePath = false !== opts.cookiePath ? (opts.cookiePath || '/') : false;
   this.cookieHttpOnly = false !== opts.cookieHttpOnly;
-  this.perMessageDeflate = false !== opts.perMessageDeflate ? (opts.perMessageDeflate || true) : false;
+  this.perMessageDeflate = opts.perMessageDeflate || false;
   this.httpCompression = false !== opts.httpCompression ? (opts.httpCompression || {}) : false;
   this.initialPacket = opts.initialPacket;
 
diff --git a/test/server.js b/test/server.js
index 40b22244f..79c61bf46 100644
--- a/test/server.js
+++ b/test/server.js
@@ -2503,7 +2503,7 @@ describe('server', function () {
     });
 
     it('should not compress when the byte size is below threshold', function (done) {
-      var engine = listen({ transports: ['websocket'] }, function (port) {
+      var engine = listen({ transports: ['websocket'], perMessageDeflate: true }, function (port) {
         engine.on('connection', function (conn) {
           var socket = conn.transport.socket;
           var send = socket.send;