diff --git a/support/bin/rtcds.in b/support/bin/rtcds.in
index 2064f2c8be57c4e33c749cb28123dcc56fc964c9..9dfda676a63f687a88994686579a7c59fc1b10aa 100755
--- a/support/bin/rtcds.in
+++ b/support/bin/rtcds.in
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ EXPORT_VARS=(${USER_VARS[@]} site ifo CDS_SRC CDS_IFO_SRC)
 # group writable
 umask 0002
 
-USE_KERNEL_MODELS=${USE_KERNEL_MODELS:-false}
+USE_KERNEL_MODELS=${USE_KERNEL_MODELS:-true}
 
 # for all flags, empty string means cleared.  Any other string means set.
 if $USE_KERNEL_MODELS ; then