diff --git a/src/or/config.c b/src/or/config.c
index 95668ec1ce22a07e13ed7a57b775c162b6b8f0a0..0b1005372e331845b7806de993832a54f421bb87 100644
--- a/src/or/config.c
+++ b/src/or/config.c
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ static void init_options(or_options_t *options) {
   options->SocksBindAddress = tor_strdup("127.0.0.1");
   options->ORBindAddress = tor_strdup("0.0.0.0");
   options->DirBindAddress = tor_strdup("0.0.0.0");
-  options->RecommendedVersions = tor_strdup("[no recommended versions defined -- the dirserver must define this]");
+  options->RecommendedVersions = NULL;
   options->loglevel = LOG_INFO;
   options->PidFile = NULL; // tor_strdup("tor.pid");
   options->DataDirectory = NULL;
@@ -575,6 +575,11 @@ int getconfig(int argc, char **argv, or_options_t *options) {
     result = -1;
   }
 
+  if(options->DirPort && options->RecommendedVersions == NULL) {
+    log(LOG_WARN,"Directory servers must configure RecommendedVersions.");
+    result = -1;
+  }
+
   if(options->SocksPort > 1 &&
      (options->PathlenCoinWeight < 0.0 || options->PathlenCoinWeight >= 1.0)) {
     log(LOG_WARN,"PathlenCoinWeight option must be >=0.0 and <1.0.");