diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e42de5fb..92546b7c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -98,11 +98,15 @@ if(APPLE)
   option(ZMQ_BUILD_FRAMEWORK "Build as OS X framework" OFF)
 endif()
 
-# Disable webSocket transport
-option(DISABLE_WS "Disable WebSocket transport" OFF)
+# Enable webSocket transport
+if (ENABLE_DRAFTS)
+  option(ENABLE_WS "Enable WebSocket transport" ON)
+else()
+  option(ENABLE_WS "Enable WebSocket transport" OFF)
+endif()
 option(WITH_NSS "Use NSS instead of builtin sha1" OFF)
 
-if (NOT DISABLE_WS)
+if (ENABLE_WS)
   list(APPEND sources
           ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/ws_address.cpp
           ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src/wss_address.cpp
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 960a9408..c4673acb 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
   of WebSockets (and secure WebSockets via TLS) via the ZWS 2.0 protocol.
   WSS requires the GnuTLS library for TLS support. ZMQ_WSS_ specific socket
   options were added to support TLS.
-  WebSockets support can be disabled at build time with --disable-ws.
+  WebSockets support is disabled by default if DRAFT APIs are disabled.
 
 * Fixed #3566 - malformed CURVE message can cause memory leak
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 8ac65888..aa532a77 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -565,7 +565,9 @@ AM_CONDITIONAL(USE_WEPOLL, test "$poller" = "wepoll")
 ws_crypto_library=""
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE([ws],
-    [AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-ws], [Disable WebSocket transport [default=no]])])
+    [AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-ws], [Enable WebSocket transport [default=state of DRAFT]])],
+    [enable_ws=$enableval],
+    [enable_ws=$enable_drafts])
 
 AC_ARG_WITH([nss],
     [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-nss], [use nss instead of built-in sha1 [default=no]])])