diff --git a/apps/apps.c b/apps/apps.c
index 5b32c65ee..9d2071096 100644
--- a/apps/apps.c
+++ b/apps/apps.c
@@ -1236,7 +1236,11 @@ int set_name_ex(unsigned long *flags, const char *arg)
         {"ca_default", XN_FLAG_MULTILINE, 0xffffffffL},
         {NULL, 0, 0}
     };
-    return set_multi_opts(flags, arg, ex_tbl);
+    if (set_multi_opts(flags, arg, ex_tbl) == 0)
+        return 0;
+    if ((*flags & XN_FLAG_SEP_MASK) == 0)
+        *flags |= XN_FLAG_SEP_CPLUS_SPC;
+    return 1;
 }
 
 int set_ext_copy(int *copy_type, const char *arg)
diff --git a/doc/apps/x509.pod b/doc/apps/x509.pod
index a24b46632..844da61f4 100644
--- a/doc/apps/x509.pod
+++ b/doc/apps/x509.pod
@@ -524,7 +524,8 @@ very rare and their use is discouraged). The options ending in
 "space" additionally place a space after the separator to make it
 more readable. The B<sep_multiline> uses a linefeed character for
 the RDN separator and a spaced B<+> for the AVA separator. It also
-indents the fields by four characters.
+indents the fields by four characters. If no field separator is specified
+then B<sep_comma_plus_space> is used by default.
 
 =item B<dn_rev>