diff --git a/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb b/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb
index de8af62..4b421f3 100644
--- a/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb
+++ b/lib/acts_as_having_settings.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ module ActsAsHavingSettings
         class_eval <<-CODE
           def #{setting}
             val = send(self.class.settings_field)[:#{setting}]
-            val.nil? ? #{default} : val
+            val.nil? ? (#{default}.is_a?(String) ? gettext(#{default}) : #{default}) : val
           end
           def #{setting}=(value)
             send(self.class.settings_field)[:#{setting}] = self.class.acts_as_having_settings_type_cast(value, #{data_type.inspect})
diff --git a/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb b/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb
index 39c2413..696c394 100644
--- a/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/acts_as_having_settings_test.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ class ActsAsHavingSettingsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
   class TestClass < Block
     settings_items :flag, :type => :boolean
     settings_items :flag_disabled_by_default, :type => :boolean, :default => false
+    settings_items :name, :type => :string, :default => N_('ENGLISH TEXT')
   end
 
   should 'store settings in a hash' do
@@ -62,6 +63,11 @@ class ActsAsHavingSettingsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal false, TestClass.new.flag_disabled_by_default
   end
 
+  should 'translate default values' do
+    TestClass.any_instance.expects(:gettext).with('ENGLISH TEXT').returns("TRANSLATED")
+    assert_equal 'TRANSLATED', TestClass.new.name
+  end
+
   should 'be able to specify type of atrributes (boolean)' do
     obj = TestClass.new
     obj.flag = 'true'
--
libgit2 0.21.2