diff --git a/src/main_allelotype.cpp b/src/main_allelotype.cpp
index 8169de8..ecb9da9 100644
--- a/src/main_allelotype.cpp
+++ b/src/main_allelotype.cpp
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ void show_help() {
      << "--realign:                      Redo local realignment. Useful if using alignments generated\n"
      << "                                by other tools.\n"
 	   << "--min-het-freq <FLOAT>:         minimum frequency to make a heterozygous call\n"
-	   << "                                (default: NULL)\n"
+	   << "                                (default: 0.1)\n"
 	   << "--haploid <chrX,[chrY,...]>:    comma-separated list of chromosomes\n"
 	   << "                                that should be forced to have homozygous\n"
 	   << "                                calls. Specify --haploid all if the organism\n"
diff --git a/src/runtime_parameters.cpp b/src/runtime_parameters.cpp
index 947b221..15b7daa 100644
--- a/src/runtime_parameters.cpp
+++ b/src/runtime_parameters.cpp
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ bool rmdup = true;
 bool include_gl = false;
 bool dont_include_pl = false;
 bool print_reads = false;
-float min_het_freq = 0;
+float min_het_freq = 0.1;
 int max_matedist = 100000;
 int maximal_end_match_window = 15;
 int min_border   = 5;