diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index b52cc56d3..2e06fe309 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -3,6 +3,12 @@ For full details, see the git log at: https://github.com/ksh93/ksh/tree/1.0
 
 Any uppercase BUG_* names are modernish shell bug IDs.
 
+2022-02-01:
+
+- Upon invocation, the interactive shell no longer leaves the user without
+  a line editor if the VISUAL or EDITOR variable does not indicate emacs,
+  gmacs or vi; instead, it now turns on the emacs option by default.
+
 2022-01-31:
 
 - Improved keyboard support for the vi and emacs built-in line editors:
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h b/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h
index 2dd38c2bc..c66fb0022 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/include/version.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 #define SH_RELEASE_FORK	"93u+m"		/* only change if you develop a new ksh93 fork */
 #define SH_RELEASE_SVER	"1.0.0-beta.2"	/* semantic version number: https://semver.org */
-#define SH_RELEASE_DATE	"2022-01-31"	/* must be in this format for $((.sh.version)) */
+#define SH_RELEASE_DATE	"2022-02-01"	/* must be in this format for $((.sh.version)) */
 #define SH_RELEASE_CPYR	"(c) 2020-2022 Contributors to ksh " SH_RELEASE_FORK
 
 /* Scripts sometimes field-split ${.sh.version}, so don't change amount of whitespace. */
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh.1 b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh.1
index 537b7b706..8ec08e19c 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh.1
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh.1
@@ -1848,15 +1848,11 @@ If the
 .B
 .SM VISUAL
 variable is not set,
-the value of this variable will be checked for the patterns
-as described with
+the value of this variable will be checked for certain patterns
+and the corresponding editing option will be turned on as described with
 .B
 .SM VISUAL
-below and the corresponding editing option
-(see Special Command
-.B set
-below)
-will be turned on.
+below.
 .TP
 .SM
 .B ENV
@@ -2274,26 +2270,34 @@ for this value which cannot be exceeded.)
 .TP
 .B
 .SM VISUAL
-If the value of this variable matches the pattern
-.IR *[Vv][Ii]* ,
-then the
-.B vi
-option
-(see Special Command
-.B set
+The value of this variable is scanned when the shell is invoked
+and whenever its value is changed;
+if it is found to match certain patterns,
+the corresponding line editor
+(see
+.I In-line Editing Options
 below)
-is turned on.
-If the value matches the pattern
-.I *gmacs* ,
+is activated.
+If it matches the pattern
+.IR *[Vv][Ii]* ,
+the
+.B vi
+option is turned on;
+else if it matches the pattern
+.IR *gmacs* ,
 the
 .B gmacs
-option is turned on.
-If the value matches the pattern
+option is turned on;
+else if it matches the pattern
 .IR *macs* ,
-then the
+the
 .B emacs
-option
-will be turned on.
+option is turned on.
+If none of the patterns match,
+.B emacs
+is turned on by default upon initializing an interactive shell.
+If the value is changed by assignment and none of the patterns match,
+no options are changed.
 The value of
 .B
 .SM VISUAL
@@ -4710,7 +4714,7 @@ If either the
 or
 .B vi
 option is active, the user can edit the command line.
-To be in either of these edit modes
+To be in either of these edit modes,
 .B set
 the corresponding
 option.
@@ -4720,8 +4724,11 @@ An editing option is automatically selected each time the
 or
 .SM
 .B EDITOR
-variable is assigned a value ending in either of these
-option names.
+variable is assigned a value matching any of these editor names;
+for details, see
+.I Shell Variables
+above under
+.BR VISUAL .
 .PP
 The editing features require that the user's terminal
 accept `RETURN' as carriage return without line feed
@@ -4742,8 +4749,8 @@ at least 8 columns to enter input, the prompt is truncated from the
 left.
 If the line is longer than the window width minus two, a mark is
 displayed at the end of the window to notify the user.
-As the cursor moves and reaches the window boundaries the window will be
-centered about the cursor.
+As the cursor moves and reaches the window boundaries,
+the window will be centered about the cursor.
 The mark is a
 .BR > " (<" ,
 .BR * )
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/main.c b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/main.c
index 00622c3f8..4da08a3d1 100644
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/main.c
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/sh/main.c
@@ -346,7 +346,18 @@ int sh_main(int ac, char *av[], Shinit_f userinit)
 		fixargs(sh.st.dolv,1);
 	}
 	if(sh_isoption(SH_INTERACTIVE))
+	{
 		sh_onstate(SH_INTERACTIVE);
+#if SHOPT_ESH
+		/* do not leave users without a line editor */
+		if(!sh_isoption(SH_GMACS)
+#if SHOPT_VSH
+		&& !sh_isoption(SH_VI)
+#endif /* SHOPT_VSH */
+		)
+			sh_onoption(SH_EMACS);
+#endif /* SHOPT_ESH */
+	}
 	nv_putval(IFSNOD,(char*)e_sptbnl,NV_RDONLY);
 	exfile(iop,fdin);
 	sh_done(0);
diff --git a/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/pty.sh b/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/pty.sh
index 5f8a91442..211d1c836 100755
--- a/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/pty.sh
+++ b/src/cmd/ksh93/tests/pty.sh
@@ -471,9 +471,11 @@ L raw Bourne mode literal tab characters
 # characters to spaces on the command line. See slowread() in io.c.
 
 p :test-1:
-w true /de\tv/nu\tl\tl
-r ^:test-1: true (/de\tv/nu\tl\tl|/de       v/nu    l       l)\r\n$
+w set +o emacs 2>/dev/null
 p :test-2:
+w true /de\tv/nu\tl\tl
+r ^:test-2: true (/de\tv/nu\tl\tl|/de       v/nu    l       l)\r\n$
+p :test-3:
 !
 
 VISUAL='' tst $LINENO <<"!"
@@ -483,13 +485,15 @@ L raw Bourne mode backslash handling
 # This is tested with both erase and kill characters.
 
 p :test-1:
-w stty erase ^H kill ^X
+w set +o emacs 2>/dev/null
 p :test-2:
-w true string\\\\\cH\cH
-r ^:test-2: true string\r\n$
+w stty erase ^H kill ^X
 p :test-3:
+w true string\\\\\cH\cH
+r ^:test-3: true string\r\n$
+p :test-4:
 w true incorrect\\\cXtrue correct
-r ^:test-3: true correct\r\n$
+r ^:test-4: true correct\r\n$
 !
 
 set --