diff --git a/http/handler.go b/http/handler.go
index 2980da12b..cb242475c 100644
--- a/http/handler.go
+++ b/http/handler.go
@@ -542,7 +542,12 @@ func (p *postIndexRequest) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	// Unmarshal expected values.
-	var _p _postIndexRequest
+	_p := _postIndexRequest{
+		Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{
+			Keys:           false,
+			TrackExistence: true,
+		},
+	}
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &_p); err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrap(err, "unmarshalling expected values")
 	}
@@ -618,7 +623,12 @@ func (h *Handler) handlePostIndex(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	resp := successResponse{}
 
 	// Decode request.
-	var req postIndexRequest
+	req := postIndexRequest{
+		Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{
+			Keys:           false,
+			TrackExistence: true,
+		},
+	}
 	err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&req)
 	if err != nil && err != io.EOF {
 		resp.write(w, err)
diff --git a/http/handler_internal_test.go b/http/handler_internal_test.go
index b0852a79d..7ca9c0401 100644
--- a/http/handler_internal_test.go
+++ b/http/handler_internal_test.go
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ func TestPostIndexRequestUnmarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		expected postIndexRequest
 		err      string
 	}{
-		{json: `{"options": {}}`, expected: postIndexRequest{Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{}}},
-		{json: `{"options": {"keys": true}}`, expected: postIndexRequest{Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{Keys: true}}},
+		{json: `{"options": {}}`, expected: postIndexRequest{Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{TrackExistence: true}}},
+		{json: `{"options": {"trackExistence": false}}`, expected: postIndexRequest{Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{TrackExistence: false}}},
+		{json: `{"options": {"keys": true}}`, expected: postIndexRequest{Options: pilosa.IndexOptions{Keys: true, TrackExistence: true}}},
 		{json: `{"options": 4}`, err: "options is not map[string]interface{}"},
 		{json: `{"option": {}}`, err: "Unknown key: option:map[]"},
 		{json: `{"options": {"badKey": "test"}}`, err: "Unknown key: badKey:test"},
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ func TestPostIndexRequestUnmarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
 
 		if test.err == "" {
 			if !reflect.DeepEqual(*actual, test.expected) {
-				t.Errorf("expected: %v, but got: %v", test.expected, *actual)
+				t.Errorf("expected: %v, but got: %v for JSON: %s", test.expected, *actual, test.json)
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/index.go b/index.go
index 0992ab213..297c02f20 100644
--- a/index.go
+++ b/index.go
@@ -69,9 +69,10 @@ func NewIndex(path, name string) (*Index, error) {
 		newAttrStore: newNopAttrStore,
 		columnAttrs:  nopStore,
 
-		broadcaster: NopBroadcaster,
-		Stats:       NopStatsClient,
-		logger:      NopLogger,
+		broadcaster:    NopBroadcaster,
+		Stats:          NopStatsClient,
+		logger:         NopLogger,
+		trackExistence: true,
 	}, nil
 }