diff --git a/traits/ctraits.c b/traits/ctraits.c
index 3c2834bd8..0bc42ce02 100644
--- a/traits/ctraits.c
+++ b/traits/ctraits.c
@@ -3064,6 +3064,22 @@ _trait_set_default_value(trait_object *trait, PyObject *args)
         return NULL;
     }
 
+    /* Validate the value */
+    switch (value_type) {
+        /* We only do sufficient validation to avoid segfaults when
+           unwrapping the value in `default_value_for`. */
+        case CALLABLE_AND_ARGS_DEFAULT_VALUE:
+            if (!PyTuple_Check(value) || PyTuple_GET_SIZE(value) != 3) {
+                PyErr_SetString(
+                    PyExc_ValueError,
+                    "default value for type DefaultValue.callable_and_args "
+                    "must be a tuple of the form (callable, args, kwds)"
+                );
+                return NULL;
+            }
+            break;
+    }
+
     trait->default_value_type = value_type;
 
     /* The DECREF on the old value can call arbitrary code, so take care not to
diff --git a/traits/tests/test_ctraits.py b/traits/tests/test_ctraits.py
index ea9e29407..2b1e233c7 100644
--- a/traits/tests/test_ctraits.py
+++ b/traits/tests/test_ctraits.py
@@ -56,6 +56,22 @@ def test_set_and_get_default_value(self):
             trait.default_value(), (DefaultValue.list_copy, [1, 2, 3])
         )
 
+    def test_validate_default_value_for_callable_and_args(self):
+
+        bad_values = [
+            None,
+            123,
+            (int, (2,)),
+            (int, 2, 3, 4),
+        ]
+
+        trait = CTrait(TraitKind.trait)
+        for value in bad_values:
+            with self.subTest(value=value):
+                with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+                    trait.set_default_value(
+                        DefaultValue.callable_and_args, value)
+
     def test_default_value_for_set_is_deprecated(self):
         trait = CTrait(TraitKind.trait)
         with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as warn_msgs:
diff --git a/traits/tests/test_trait_types.py b/traits/tests/test_trait_types.py
index 59a740b23..561426639 100644
--- a/traits/tests/test_trait_types.py
+++ b/traits/tests/test_trait_types.py
@@ -132,6 +132,20 @@ class MyTraitType(TraitType):
         with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
             ctrait.default_value_for(None, "<dummy>")
 
+    def test_call_sets_default_value_type(self):
+        class FooTrait(TraitType):
+            default_value_type = DefaultValue.callable_and_args
+
+            def __init__(self, default_value=NoDefaultSpecified, **metadata):
+                default_value = (pow, (3, 4), {})
+                super().__init__(default_value, **metadata)
+
+        trait = FooTrait()
+        ctrait = trait.as_ctrait()
+        self.assertEqual(ctrait.default_value_for(None, "dummy"), 81)
+        cloned_ctrait = trait(30)
+        self.assertEqual(cloned_ctrait.default_value_for(None, "dummy"), 30)
+
 
 class TestDeprecatedTraitTypes(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_function_deprecated(self):
diff --git a/traits/trait_type.py b/traits/trait_type.py
index 257a058b0..95d89cd26 100644
--- a/traits/trait_type.py
+++ b/traits/trait_type.py
@@ -305,15 +305,18 @@ def clone(self, default_value=NoDefaultSpecified, **metadata):
         new._metadata.update(metadata)
 
         if default_value is not NoDefaultSpecified:
-            new.default_value = default_value
             if self.validate is not None:
                 try:
-                    new.default_value = self.validate(
-                        None, None, default_value
-                    )
+                    default_value = self.validate(None, None, default_value)
                 except Exception:
                     pass
 
+            # Known issue: this doesn't do the right thing for
+            # List, Dict and Set, where we really want to make a copy.
+            # xref: enthought/traits#1630
+            new.default_value_type = DefaultValue.constant
+            new.default_value = default_value
+
         return new
 
     def get_value(self, object, name, trait=None):