diff --git a/umap/static/umap/js/umap.layer.js b/umap/static/umap/js/umap.layer.js
index d4aafad8..79bd184e 100644
--- a/umap/static/umap/js/umap.layer.js
+++ b/umap/static/umap/js/umap.layer.js
@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@ L.U.Layer.Choropleth = L.FeatureGroup.extend({
         'options.choropleth.mode',
         {
           handler: 'MultiChoice',
+          default: 'q',
           choices: [
             ['q', L._('quantile')],
             ['e', L._('equidistant')],