diff --git a/libraries/app/application.cpp b/libraries/app/application.cpp
index ec4c71ad..5f7ed7f5 100644
--- a/libraries/app/application.cpp
+++ b/libraries/app/application.cpp
@@ -933,7 +933,8 @@ void application::set_program_options(boost::program_options::options_descriptio
          ("enable-standby-votes-tracking", bpo::value<bool>()->implicit_value(true),
           "Whether to enable tracking of votes of standby witnesses and committee members. "
           "Set it to true to provide accurate data to API clients, set to false for slightly better performance.")
-         ("plugins", bpo::value<string>(), "Space-separated list of plugins to activate")
+         ("plugins", bpo::value<string>()->default_value("account_history accounts_list affiliate_stats bookie market_history witness"),
+          "Space-separated list of plugins to activate")
          ;
    command_line_options.add(configuration_file_options);
    command_line_options.add_options()
diff --git a/programs/witness_node/main.cpp b/programs/witness_node/main.cpp
index 7823fed3..af5086b2 100644
--- a/programs/witness_node/main.cpp
+++ b/programs/witness_node/main.cpp
@@ -71,10 +71,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
             ("help,h", "Print this help message and exit.")
             ("data-dir,d", bpo::value<boost::filesystem::path>()->default_value("witness_node_data_dir"),
                     "Directory containing databases, configuration file, etc.")
-            ("version,v", "Display version information")
-            ("plugins", bpo::value<std::string>()
-                            ->default_value("witness account_history market_history accounts_list affiliate_stats bookie"),
-                    "Space-separated list of plugins to activate");
+            ("version,v", "Display version information");
 
       bpo::variables_map options;