diff --git a/lib/config.js b/lib/config.js
index e0e10cba0..9efca141e 100644
--- a/lib/config.js
+++ b/lib/config.js
@@ -109,8 +109,7 @@ function Config(config) {
 		this.server_id = crypto.pseudoRandomBytes(6).toString('hex')
 	}
 
-	// default for sinopia 0.7.x, may be changed in the future
-	if (this.ignore_latest_tag == null) this.ignore_latest_tag = true
+	if (this.ignore_latest_tag == null) this.ignore_latest_tag = false
 
 	return this
 }
diff --git a/lib/config_def.yaml b/lib/config_def.yaml
index f74cdbc32..125c9a517 100644
--- a/lib/config_def.yaml
+++ b/lib/config_def.yaml
@@ -85,5 +85,5 @@ logs:
 # Workaround for countless npm bugs. Must have for npm <1.14.x, but expect
 # it to be turned off in future versions. If `true`, latest tag is ignored,
 # and the highest semver is placed instead.
-#ignore_latest_tag: true
+#ignore_latest_tag: false
 
diff --git a/lib/storage.js b/lib/storage.js
index a1f7596c3..93e0695b2 100644
--- a/lib/storage.js
+++ b/lib/storage.js
@@ -301,9 +301,9 @@ Storage.prototype.get_package = function(name, options, callback) {
 				if (whitelist.indexOf(i) === -1) delete result[i]
 			}
 
-			// ensure that latest tag is always present,
-			// this can be overridden with dist-tags
-			result['dist-tags'].latest = utils.semver_sort(Object.keys(result.versions))
+			if (self.config.ignore_latest_tag) {
+				result['dist-tags'].latest = utils.semver_sort(Object.keys(result.versions))
+			}
 
 			for (var i in result['dist-tags']) {
 				if (Array.isArray(result['dist-tags'][i])) {
diff --git a/test/functional/tags.js b/test/functional/tags.js
index 53d93dbfc..cf2a4e3d9 100644
--- a/test/functional/tags.js
+++ b/test/functional/tags.js
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ module.exports = function() {
 				assert.equal(res.statusCode, 200)
 				assert.equal(typeof(body.versions['1.1']), 'object')
 				assert.equal(body['dist-tags'].something, '0.1.1alpha')
-				assert.equal(body['dist-tags'].latest, '0.1.3alpha')
+				// note: 5.4.3 is invalid tag, 0.1.3alpha is highest semver
+				assert.equal(body['dist-tags'].latest, '5.4.3')
 				assert.equal(body['dist-tags'].bad, null)
 				cb()
 			})