diff --git a/src/re_set.rs b/src/re_set.rs
index a6d886d76..92d475f7b 100644
--- a/src/re_set.rs
+++ b/src/re_set.rs
@@ -289,6 +289,12 @@ impl RegexSet {
     }
 }
 
+impl Default for RegexSet {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        RegexSet::empty()
+    }
+}
+
 /// A set of matches returned by a regex set.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct SetMatches {
diff --git a/tests/set.rs b/tests/set.rs
index 37fcf8700..d1144d662 100644
--- a/tests/set.rs
+++ b/tests/set.rs
@@ -65,3 +65,10 @@ fn len_and_empty() {
     assert_eq!(not_empty.len(), 2);
     assert!(!not_empty.is_empty());
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn default_set_is_empty() {
+    let set: regex::bytes::RegexSet = Default::default();
+    assert_eq!(set.len(), 0);
+    assert!(set.is_empty());
+}