diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2517f75..3af1665 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -48,9 +48,15 @@ CWFLAGS += -Wp,-D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -O
 endif
 
 ifdef DEBIAN
-CPPFLAGS= -DDEBIAN
+CPPFLAGS := -DDEBIAN
 else
-CPPFLAGS=
+CPPFLAGS :=
+endif
+ifdef DEFAULT_OLD_METADATA
+ CPPFLAG += -DDEFAULT_OLD_METADATA
+ DEFAULT_METADATA=0.90
+else
+ DEFAULT_METADATA=1.2
 endif
 
 SYSCONFDIR = /etc
@@ -180,6 +186,9 @@ mdassemble.klibc : $(ASSEMBLE_SRCS) mdadm.h
 	rm -f $(OBJS)
 	$(KLIBC_GCC) $(ASSEMBLE_FLAGS) -o mdassemble $(ASSEMBLE_SRCS)
 
+mdadm.8 : mdadm.8.in
+	sed -e 's/{DEFAULT_METADATA}/$(DEFAULT_METADATA)/g' mdadm.8.in > mdadm.8
+
 mdadm.man : mdadm.8
 	nroff -man mdadm.8 > mdadm.man
 
diff --git a/mdadm.8 b/mdadm.8.in
similarity index 99%
rename from mdadm.8
rename to mdadm.8.in
index 90470d9..da1a0a9 100644
--- a/mdadm.8
+++ b/mdadm.8.in
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ says to get a list of array devices from
 .TP
 .BR \-e ", " \-\-metadata=
 Declare the style of RAID metadata (superblock) to be used.  The
-default is 1.2 for
+default is {DEFAULT_METADATA} for
 .BR \-\-create ,
 and to guess for other operations.
 The default can be overridden by setting the
@@ -311,16 +311,24 @@ keyword in
 
 Options are:
 .RS
+.ie '{DEFAULT_METADATA}'0.90'
+.IP "0, 0.90, default"
+.el
 .IP "0, 0.90"
+..
 Use the original 0.90 format superblock.  This format limits arrays to
 28 component devices and limits component devices of levels 1 and
 greater to 2 terabytes.
+.ie '{DEFAULT_METADATA}'0.90'
+.IP "1, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2"
+.el
 .IP "1, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 default"
+..
 Use the new version-1 format superblock.  This has few restrictions.
 The different sub-versions store the superblock at different locations
 on the device, either at the end (for 1.0), at the start (for 1.1) or
-4K from the start (for 1.2).  '1' is equivalent to '1.0', 'default' is
-equivalent to '1.2'.
+4K from the start (for 1.2).  "1" is equivalent to "1.0".
+'if '{DEFAULT_METADATA}'1.2'  "default" is equivalent to "1.2".
 .IP ddf
 Use the "Industry Standard" DDF (Disk Data Format) format defined by
 SNIA.
diff --git a/super0.c b/super0.c
index a0c7eb4..83600cb 100644
--- a/super0.c
+++ b/super0.c
@@ -922,6 +922,9 @@ static struct supertype *match_metadata_desc0(char *arg)
 	while (arg[0] == '0' && arg[1] == '0')
 		arg++;
 	if (strcmp(arg, "0") == 0 ||
+#ifdef DEFAULT_OLD_METADATA /* ifndef in super1.c */
+	    strcmp(arg, "default") == 0 ||
+#endif /* DEFAULT_OLD_METADATA */
 	    strcmp(arg, "0.90") == 0 ||
 	    strcmp(arg, "") == 0 /* no metadata  - i.e. non_persistent */
 		)
diff --git a/super1.c b/super1.c
index 8fa0745..216690d 100644
--- a/super1.c
+++ b/super1.c
@@ -1381,7 +1381,9 @@ static struct supertype *match_metadata_desc1(char *arg)
 		return st;
 	}
 	if (strcmp(arg, "1.2") == 0 ||
+#ifndef DEFAULT_OLD_METADATA /* ifdef in super0.c */
 	    strcmp(arg, "default") == 0 ||
+#endif /* DEFAULT_OLD_METADATA */
 	    strcmp(arg, "1.02") == 0) {
 		st->minor_version = 2;
 		return st;