diff --git a/lib/vanagon/cli/build.rb b/lib/vanagon/cli/build.rb
index 0d9cd991..141c49d2 100644
--- a/lib/vanagon/cli/build.rb
+++ b/lib/vanagon/cli/build.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class Build < Vanagon::CLI
           -s, --skipcheck                  Skip the "check" stage when building components
           -w, --workdir DIRECTORY          Working directory on the local host,
                                              managed automatically based on `keepwork` option
-          -k, --keepwork RULE              Rule for preserving local `workdir`: [Default: never]
+          -k, --keepwork RULE              Rule for preserving local `workdir`: [Default: on-failure]
                                              always, on-success, on-failure, never
           -v, --verbose                    Only here for backwards compatibility. Does nothing.
 
diff --git a/lib/vanagon/driver.rb b/lib/vanagon/driver.rb
index 2d7401ee..022a06fa 100644
--- a/lib/vanagon/driver.rb
+++ b/lib/vanagon/driver.rb
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def initialize(platform, project, options = {}) # rubocop:disable Metrics/AbcSiz
       @verbose = options[:verbose] || false
       @preserve = options[:preserve] || :'on-failure'
       @workdir = options[:workdir] || Dir.mktmpdir
-      @keepwork = options[:keepwork] || :never
+      @keepwork = options[:keepwork] || :'on-failure'
 
       @@configdir = options[:configdir] || File.join(Dir.pwd, "configs")
       components = options[:components] || []
diff --git a/spec/lib/vanagon/cli_spec.rb b/spec/lib/vanagon/cli_spec.rb
index b9932676..787b815e 100644
--- a/spec/lib/vanagon/cli_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/vanagon/cli_spec.rb
@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@
       subject = described_class.new
       expect(subject.parse(%W[build hello project platform])).to include(:preserve => :'on-failure')
     end
-    it "keepwork defaults to :never" do
+    it "keepwork defaults to :on-failure" do
       subject = described_class.new
-      expect(subject.parse(%W[build hello project platform])).to include(:keepwork => :never)
+      expect(subject.parse(%W[build hello project platform])).to include(:keepwork => :'on-failure')
     end
   end