diff --git a/src/clj/clj_rhino.clj b/src/clj/clj_rhino.clj
index 13f7ff7..8ecd637 100644
--- a/src/clj/clj_rhino.clj
+++ b/src/clj/clj_rhino.clj
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@
 
 (defn toggle-dynamic-scope! [enable]
   "enables/disables creation of either 'normal' scopes or dynamic scopes. this
-   will only affect scopes that are created after calling this function."
+   will only affect scopes that are created after calling this function. the
+   default setting is to create non-dynamic scopes."
   (DynamicScopeContextFactory/toggleDynamicScopeCreation enable))
 
 (defn with-context [fun]
diff --git a/src/java/org/marianoguerra/rhino/DynamicScopeContextFactory.java b/src/java/org/marianoguerra/rhino/DynamicScopeContextFactory.java
index de0543c..6d3f02e 100644
--- a/src/java/org/marianoguerra/rhino/DynamicScopeContextFactory.java
+++ b/src/java/org/marianoguerra/rhino/DynamicScopeContextFactory.java
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import org.mozilla.javascript.Context;
 import org.mozilla.javascript.ContextFactory;
 
 public class DynamicScopeContextFactory extends ContextFactory {
-	static boolean useDynamicScope;
+	// default is to use non-dynamic scopes, which is to maintain compatibility with how clj-rhino worked
+	// before this addition
+	static boolean useDynamicScope = false;
 
 	public static boolean toggleDynamicScopeCreation(boolean enable) {
 		useDynamicScope = enable;