diff --git a/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.C b/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.C
index a277f687c6..b7b5d49ef3 100644
--- a/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.C
+++ b/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.C
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ namespace surfaceWriters
 Foam::surfaceWriters::boundaryDataWriter::boundaryDataWriter()
 :
     surfaceWriter(),
-    header_(false),
+    header_(true),
     streamOpt_()
 {}
 
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ Foam::surfaceWriters::boundaryDataWriter::boundaryDataWriter
 )
 :
     surfaceWriter(options),
-    header_(options.getOrDefault("header", false)),
+    header_(options.getOrDefault("header", true)),
     streamOpt_
     (
         IOstream::formatEnum("format", options, IOstream::ASCII),
diff --git a/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.H b/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.H
index 8965ad5339..ee422186d4 100644
--- a/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.H
+++ b/src/surfMesh/writers/boundaryData/boundaryDataSurfaceWriter.H
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ Description
     Format options:
     \table
         Property    | Description                           | Required | Default
-        header      | Generate files with FoamFile header   | no  | false
+        header      | Generate files with FoamFile header   | no  | true
         format      | ascii/binary                          | no  | ascii
         compression | Use file compression                  | no  | false
     \endtable
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@ Description
         {
             boundaryData
             {
-                header  true;
                 format  binary;
             }
         }