diff --git a/query/autocomplete.js b/query/autocomplete.js
index b3328a69..405fe486 100644
--- a/query/autocomplete.js
+++ b/query/autocomplete.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 
-var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query');
+var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query'),
+    defaults = require('./defaults');
 
 //------------------------------
 // autocomplete query
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ query.score( peliasQuery.view.focus );
 **/
 function generateQuery( clean ){
 
-  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( peliasQuery.defaults );
+  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( defaults );
 
   // input text
   vs.var( 'input:name', clean.text );
diff --git a/query/defaults.js b/query/defaults.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf9422d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/query/defaults.js
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+
+var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query'),
+    extend = require('extend');
+
+module.exports = extend( false, peliasQuery.defaults, {
+
+  'size': 10,
+  'track_scores': true,
+
+  'centroid:field': 'center_point',
+  
+  'sort:distance:order': 'asc',
+  'sort:distance:distance_type': 'plane',
+
+  'boundary:circle:radius': '50km',
+  'boundary:circle:distance_type': 'plane',
+  'boundary:circle:optimize_bbox': 'indexed',
+  'boundary:circle:_cache': true,
+
+  'boundary:rect:type': 'indexed',
+  'boundary:rect:_cache': true,
+
+  'ngram:analyzer': 'peliasOneEdgeGram',
+  'ngram:field': 'name.default',
+  'ngram:boost': 1,
+
+  'phrase:analyzer': 'peliasPhrase',
+  'phrase:field': 'phrase.default',
+  'phrase:boost': 1,
+  'phrase:slop': 2,
+
+  'focus:function': 'linear',
+  'focus:offset': '1km',
+  'focus:scale': '50km',
+  'focus:decay': 0.5,
+
+  'function_score:score_mode': 'avg',
+  'function_score:boost_mode': 'replace',
+
+  'address:housenumber:analyzer': 'standard',
+  'address:housenumber:field': 'address.number',
+  'address:housenumber:boost': 1,
+
+  'address:street:analyzer': 'standard',
+  'address:street:field': 'address.street',
+  'address:street:boost': 1,
+
+  'address:postcode:analyzer': 'standard',
+  'address:postcode:field': 'address.zip',
+  'address:postcode:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:alpha3:analyzer': 'standard',
+  'admin:alpha3:field': 'alpha3',
+  'admin:alpha3:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:admin0:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:admin0:field': 'admin0',
+  'admin:admin0:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:admin1:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:admin1:field': 'admin1',
+  'admin:admin1:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:admin1_abbr:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:admin1_abbr:field': 'admin1_abbr',
+  'admin:admin1_abbr:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:admin2:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:admin2:field': 'admin2',
+  'admin:admin2:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:local_admin:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:local_admin:field': 'local_admin',
+  'admin:local_admin:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:locality:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:locality:field': 'locality',
+  'admin:locality:boost': 1,
+
+  'admin:neighborhood:analyzer': 'peliasAdmin',
+  'admin:neighborhood:field': 'neighborhood',
+  'admin:neighborhood:boost': 1
+
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/query/reverse.js b/query/reverse.js
index bcf24755..8aca4d94 100644
--- a/query/reverse.js
+++ b/query/reverse.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 
 var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query'),
+    defaults = require('./defaults'),
     sort = require('./sort');
 
 //------------------------------
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_circle );
 
 function generateQuery( clean ){
 
-  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( peliasQuery.defaults );
+  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( defaults );
 
   // set defaults
   vs.set({
diff --git a/query/search.js b/query/search.js
index a0b65721..fa9b25d2 100644
--- a/query/search.js
+++ b/query/search.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 
 var peliasQuery = require('pelias-query'),
+    defaults = require('./defaults'),
     sort = require('../query/sort'),
     adminFields = require('../helper/adminFields')();
 
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_rect );
 **/
 function generateQuery( clean ){
 
-  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( peliasQuery.defaults );
+  var vs = new peliasQuery.Vars( defaults );
 
   // input text
   vs.var( 'input:name', clean.text );
diff --git a/test/unit/query/defaults.js b/test/unit/query/defaults.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d6fcc720
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/query/defaults.js
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+
+var defaults = require('../../../query/defaults');
+
+module.exports.tests = {};
+
+module.exports.tests.interface = function(test, common) {
+  test('valid interface', function(t) {
+    t.equal(typeof defaults, 'object', 'defaults defined');
+    t.end();
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
+
+  function test(name, testFunction) {
+    return tape('query defaults ' + name, testFunction);
+  }
+
+  for( var testCase in module.exports.tests ){
+    module.exports.tests[testCase](test, common);
+  }
+};
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index 885efe5f..cfd99715 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ var tests = [
   require('./query/search'),
   require('./query/autocomplete'),
   require('./query/reverse'),
+  require('./query/defaults'),
   require('./helper/query_parser'),
   require('./helper/geojsonify'),
   require('./helper/outputSchema'),