diff --git a/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb b/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb
index 89466b3..7646b48 100644
--- a/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb
+++ b/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb
@@ -21,12 +21,13 @@ module ActsAsHavingSettings
     def settings_items(*names)
 
       options = names.last.is_a?(Hash) ? names.pop : {}
-      default = options[:default] ? "|| #{options[:default].inspect}"  : ""
+      default = options[:default] ? options[:default].inspect : "val"
 
       names.each do |setting|
         class_eval <<-CODE
           def #{setting}
-            send(self.class.settings_field)[:#{setting}] #{default}
+            val = send(self.class.settings_field)[:#{setting}]
+            val.nil? ? #{default} : val
           end
           def #{setting}=(value)
             send(self.class.settings_field)[:#{setting}] = value
diff --git a/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb b/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb
index 203d9d6..ae6605a 100644
--- a/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb
@@ -48,4 +48,12 @@ class ActsAsHavingSettingsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal 10, block_class.new.some_setting
   end
 
+  should 'be able to set boolean attributes to false with a default of true' do
+    klass = Class.new(Block)
+    klass.settings_items :flag, :default => true
+    obj = klass.new
+    obj.flag = false
+    assert_equal false, obj.flag
+  end
+
 end
--
libgit2 0.21.2