diff --git a/src/common/settings.js b/src/common/settings.js
index 18c47f8b..e4aab48a 100644
--- a/src/common/settings.js
+++ b/src/common/settings.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ function loadDefault(version, spellCheckerLocale) {
         flashWindow: 0 // 0 = flash never, 1 = only when idle (after 10 seconds), 2 = always
       },
       showUnreadBadge: true,
-      useSpellChecker: false,
+      useSpellChecker: true,
       spellCheckerLocale: spellCheckerLocale || 'en-US'
     };
   default:
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index b83b44d3..bcf284d0 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -96,7 +96,8 @@ try {
     settings.writeFileSync(configFile, config);
   }
 } catch (e) {
-  config = settings.loadDefault();
+  const spellCheckerLocale = SpellChecker.getSpellCheckerLocale(app.getLocale());
+  config = settings.loadDefault(null, spellCheckerLocale);
   console.log('Failed to read or upgrade config.json', e);
 }
 
diff --git a/test/specs/browser/settings_test.js b/test/specs/browser/settings_test.js
index ddbba9bb..ba1075ef 100644
--- a/test/specs/browser/settings_test.js
+++ b/test/specs/browser/settings_test.js
@@ -208,11 +208,12 @@ describe('browser/settings.html', function desc() {
           loadSettingsPage().
           isExisting('#inputSpellChecker').then((existing) => existing.should.equal(true)).
           scroll('#inputSpellChecker').
+          isSelected('#inputSpellChecker').then((selected) => selected.should.equal(true)).
           click('#inputSpellChecker').
           pause(700).
           then(() => {
             const config1 = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(env.configFilePath, 'utf-8'));
-            config1.useSpellChecker.should.equal(true);
+            config1.useSpellChecker.should.equal(false);
           });
       });
     });