diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/languages/RubyClientCodegen.java b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/languages/RubyClientCodegen.java
index f30b2ef8b85..2fd6d8d8bc0 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/languages/RubyClientCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/java/io/swagger/codegen/languages/RubyClientCodegen.java
@@ -6,9 +6,7 @@ import io.swagger.codegen.CodegenConstants;
 import io.swagger.codegen.CodegenType;
 import io.swagger.codegen.DefaultCodegen;
 import io.swagger.codegen.SupportingFile;
-import io.swagger.models.properties.ArrayProperty;
-import io.swagger.models.properties.MapProperty;
-import io.swagger.models.properties.Property;
+import io.swagger.models.properties.*;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -186,6 +184,43 @@ public class RubyClientCodegen extends DefaultCodegen implements CodegenConfig {
         return super.getTypeDeclaration(p);
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public String toDefaultValue(Property p) {
+        if (p instanceof IntegerProperty) {
+            IntegerProperty dp = (IntegerProperty) p;
+            if (dp.getDefault() != null) {
+                return dp.getDefault().toString();
+            }
+        } else if (p instanceof LongProperty) {
+            LongProperty dp = (LongProperty) p;
+            if (dp.getDefault() != null) {
+                return dp.getDefault().toString();
+            }
+        } else if (p instanceof DoubleProperty) {
+            DoubleProperty dp = (DoubleProperty) p;
+            if (dp.getDefault() != null) {
+                return dp.getDefault().toString();
+            }
+        } else if (p instanceof FloatProperty) {
+            FloatProperty dp = (FloatProperty) p;
+            if (dp.getDefault() != null) {
+                return dp.getDefault().toString();
+            }
+        } else if (p instanceof BooleanProperty) {
+            BooleanProperty bp = (BooleanProperty) p;
+            if (bp.getDefault() != null) {
+                return bp.getDefault().toString();
+            }
+        } else if (p instanceof StringProperty) {
+            StringProperty sp = (StringProperty) p;
+            if (sp.getDefault() != null) {
+                return "\"" + escapeText(sp.getDefault()) + "\"";
+            }
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public String getSwaggerType(Property p) {
         String swaggerType = super.getSwaggerType(p);
@@ -204,10 +239,6 @@ public class RubyClientCodegen extends DefaultCodegen implements CodegenConfig {
         return type;
     }
 
-    public String toDefaultValue(Property p) {
-        return "null";
-    }
-
     @Override
     public String toVarName(String name) {
         // sanitize name
diff --git a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/ruby/model.mustache b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/ruby/model.mustache
index 35742384c26..aff5ba60c02 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/ruby/model.mustache
+++ b/modules/swagger-codegen/src/main/resources/ruby/model.mustache
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ module {{moduleName}}
     end
 
     def initialize(attributes = {})
-      return if !attributes.is_a?(Hash) || attributes.empty?
+      return unless attributes.is_a?(Hash)
 
       # convert string to symbol for hash key
       attributes = attributes.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ module {{moduleName}}
       if attributes[:'{{{baseName}}}']
         {{#isContainer}}if (value = attributes[:'{{{baseName}}}']).is_a?(Array)
           self.{{{name}}} = value
-        end{{/isContainer}}{{^isContainer}}self.{{{name}}} = attributes[:'{{{baseName}}}']{{/isContainer}}
+        end{{/isContainer}}{{^isContainer}}self.{{{name}}} = attributes[:'{{{baseName}}}']{{/isContainer}}{{#defaultValue}}
+      else
+        self.{{{name}}} = {{{defaultValue}}}{{/defaultValue}}
       end
       {{/vars}}
     end
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/category.rb b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/category.rb
index ab5b9cabbaa..8a0db248656 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/category.rb
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/category.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ module Petstore
     end
 
     def initialize(attributes = {})
-      return if !attributes.is_a?(Hash) || attributes.empty?
+      return unless attributes.is_a?(Hash)
 
       # convert string to symbol for hash key
       attributes = attributes.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/order.rb b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/order.rb
index 74eab3436e3..c8de9162980 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/order.rb
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/order.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ module Petstore
     end
 
     def initialize(attributes = {})
-      return if !attributes.is_a?(Hash) || attributes.empty?
+      return unless attributes.is_a?(Hash)
 
       # convert string to symbol for hash key
       attributes = attributes.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/pet.rb b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/pet.rb
index 8c5fe6e17e7..dcfe46d9534 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/pet.rb
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/pet.rb
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ module Petstore
     end
 
     def initialize(attributes = {})
-      return if !attributes.is_a?(Hash) || attributes.empty?
+      return unless attributes.is_a?(Hash)
 
       # convert string to symbol for hash key
       attributes = attributes.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/tag.rb b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/tag.rb
index 51439de5846..0861036ef18 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/tag.rb
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/tag.rb
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ module Petstore
     end
 
     def initialize(attributes = {})
-      return if !attributes.is_a?(Hash) || attributes.empty?
+      return unless attributes.is_a?(Hash)
 
       # convert string to symbol for hash key
       attributes = attributes.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}
diff --git a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/user.rb b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/user.rb
index 3d20ab95c4f..01bcc822347 100644
--- a/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/user.rb
+++ b/samples/client/petstore/ruby/lib/petstore/models/user.rb
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ module Petstore
     end
 
     def initialize(attributes = {})
-      return if !attributes.is_a?(Hash) || attributes.empty?
+      return unless attributes.is_a?(Hash)
 
       # convert string to symbol for hash key
       attributes = attributes.inject({}){|memo,(k,v)| memo[k.to_sym] = v; memo}