diff --git a/compiler/cpp/src/thrift/generate/t_go_generator.cc b/compiler/cpp/src/thrift/generate/t_go_generator.cc
index ec16b87..11246f3 100644
--- a/compiler/cpp/src/thrift/generate/t_go_generator.cc
+++ b/compiler/cpp/src/thrift/generate/t_go_generator.cc
@@ -1338,7 +1338,13 @@
       t_type* fieldType = (*m_iter)->get_type();
       string goType = type_to_go_type_with_opt(fieldType, is_pointer_field(*m_iter));
       string gotag = "db:\"" + escape_string((*m_iter)->get_name())  + "\" ";
-      if ((*m_iter)->get_req() == t_field::T_OPTIONAL) {
+
+      // Only add the `omitempty` tag if this field is optional and has no default value.
+      // Otherwise a proper value like `false` for a bool field will be ommitted from
+      // the JSON output since Go Marshal won't output `zero values`.
+      bool has_default = (*m_iter)->get_value();
+      bool is_optional = (*m_iter)->get_req() == t_field::T_OPTIONAL;
+      if (is_optional && !has_default) {
         gotag += "json:\"" + escape_string((*m_iter)->get_name()) + ",omitempty\"";
       } else {
         gotag += "json:\"" + escape_string((*m_iter)->get_name()) + "\"";
diff --git a/lib/go/test/GoTagTest.thrift b/lib/go/test/GoTagTest.thrift
index 508b3b6..5667c6e 100644
--- a/lib/go/test/GoTagTest.thrift
+++ b/lib/go/test/GoTagTest.thrift
@@ -21,4 +21,5 @@
     1: string string_thing,
     2: i64 int_thing (go.tag = "json:\"int_thing,string\""),
     3: optional i64 optional_int_thing
+    4: optional bool optional_bool_thing = false
 }
diff --git a/lib/go/test/tests/gotag_test.go b/lib/go/test/tests/gotag_test.go
index 32f056f..ff2f14e 100644
--- a/lib/go/test/tests/gotag_test.go
+++ b/lib/go/test/tests/gotag_test.go
@@ -51,3 +51,12 @@
 		t.Error("Unexpected default tag value for optional field")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestOptionalTagWithDefaultValue(t *testing.T) {
+	s := gotagtest.Tagged{}
+	st := reflect.TypeOf(s)
+	field, ok := st.FieldByName("OptionalBoolThing")
+	if !ok || field.Tag.Get("json") != "optional_bool_thing" {
+		t.Error("Unexpected default tag value for optional field that has a default value")
+	}
+}