diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_go_generator.cc b/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_go_generator.cc
index cc649c4..b8e680e 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_go_generator.cc
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/generate/t_go_generator.cc
@@ -424,11 +424,11 @@
 std::string t_go_generator::camelcase(const std::string& value) const {
   std::string value2(value);
   std::setlocale(LC_ALL, "C"); // set locale to classic
-  
+
   // Fix common initialism in first word
   fix_common_initialism(value2, 0);
 
-  // as long as we are changing things, let's change _ followed by lowercase to 
+  // as long as we are changing things, let's change _ followed by lowercase to
   // capital and fix common initialisms
   for (std::string::size_type i = 1; i < value2.size() - 1; ++i) {
     if (value2[i] == '_') {
@@ -1040,21 +1040,13 @@
         throw "type error: " + type->get_name() + " has no field " + v_iter->first->get_string();
       }
 
-      if (field_type->is_base_type() || field_type->is_enum()) {
-        out << endl << indent() << publicize(v_iter->first->get_string()) << ": "
-            << render_const_value(field_type, v_iter->second, name) << ",";
-      } else {
-        string k(tmp("k"));
-        string v(tmp("v"));
-        out << endl << indent() << v << " := " << render_const_value(field_type, v_iter->second, v)
-            << endl << indent() << name << "." << publicize(v_iter->first->get_string()) << " = "
-            << v;
-      }
+      out << endl << indent() << publicize(v_iter->first->get_string()) << ": "
+          << render_const_value(field_type, v_iter->second, name) << "," << endl;
     }
 
+    indent_down();
     out << "}";
 
-    indent_down();
   } else if (type->is_map()) {
     t_type* ktype = ((t_map*)type)->get_key_type();
     t_type* vtype = ((t_map*)type)->get_val_type();
diff --git a/lib/go/test/Makefile.am b/lib/go/test/Makefile.am
index e03d48b..bbcec96 100644
--- a/lib/go/test/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/go/test/Makefile.am
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 				GoTagTest.thrift \
 				TypedefFieldTest.thrift \
 				RefAnnotationFieldsTest.thrift \
+				UnionDefaultValueTest.thrift \
 				ErrorTest.thrift \
 				NamesTest.thrift \
 				InitialismsTest.thrift \
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@
 	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) GoTagTest.thrift
 	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) TypedefFieldTest.thrift
 	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) RefAnnotationFieldsTest.thrift
+	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) UnionDefaultValueTest.thrift
 	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) ErrorTest.thrift
 	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) NamesTest.thrift
 	$(THRIFT) $(THRIFTARGS) InitialismsTest.thrift
@@ -91,6 +93,7 @@
 	OnewayTest.thrift \
 	OptionalFieldsTest.thrift \
 	RefAnnotationFieldsTest.thrift \
+	UnionDefaultValueTest.thrift \
 	ServicesTest.thrift \
 	TypedefFieldTest.thrift \
 	ErrorTest.thrift \
diff --git a/lib/go/test/UnionDefaultValueTest.thrift b/lib/go/test/UnionDefaultValueTest.thrift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c93480
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/go/test/UnionDefaultValueTest.thrift
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+# or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+# software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+# "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+# KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations
+# under the License.
+#
+
+struct Option1 {
+}
+
+struct Option2 {
+  1: optional string name
+}
+
+union Descendant {
+  1: Option1 option1
+  2: Option2 option2
+}
+
+struct TestStruct {
+  1: optional Descendant descendant = { "option1": {}}
+}
diff --git a/lib/go/test/tests/union_default_value_test.go b/lib/go/test/tests/union_default_value_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2dcbf4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/go/test/tests/union_default_value_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+package tests
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"uniondefaultvaluetest"
+)
+
+func TestUnionDefaultValue(t *testing.T) {
+	s := uniondefaultvaluetest.NewTestStruct()
+	d := s.GetDescendant()
+	if d == nil {
+		t.Error("Default Union value not set!")
+	}
+}