diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
index 849ccbe2e..25c0c60bd 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::go()
         boost::filesystem::create_directories(configPath);
     }
 
-    // Create the settings manager and load default and user settings file
+    // Create the settings manager and load default settings file
     Settings::Manager settings;
     const std::string localdefault = mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + "/settings-default.cfg";
     const std::string globaldefault = mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + "/settings-default.cfg";
@@ -326,11 +326,14 @@ void OMW::Engine::go()
     else if (boost::filesystem::exists(globaldefault))
         settings.loadDefault(globaldefault);
 
+    // load user settings if they exist, otherwise just load the default settings as user settings
     const std::string settingspath = mCfgMgr.getUserPath().string() + "/settings.cfg";
     if (boost::filesystem::exists(settingspath))
         settings.loadUser(settingspath);
-    else
-        settings.copyDefaultToUserSettings();
+    else if (boost::filesystem::exists(localdefault))
+        settings.loadUser(localdefault);
+    else if (boost::filesystem::exists(globaldefault))
+        settings.loadUser(globaldefault);
 
     mOgre->configure(!boost::filesystem::is_regular_file(mCfgMgr.getOgreConfigPath()),
         mCfgMgr.getOgreConfigPath().string(),
diff --git a/components/settings/settings.cpp b/components/settings/settings.cpp
index d94e06678..28201eda2 100644
--- a/components/settings/settings.cpp
+++ b/components/settings/settings.cpp
@@ -22,11 +22,6 @@ void Manager::loadDefault (const std::string& file)
     mDefaultFile.load(file);
 }
 
-void Manager::copyDefaultToUserSettings ()
-{
-    mFile = mDefaultFile;
-}
-
 void Manager::saveUser(const std::string& file)
 {
     std::fstream fout(file.c_str(), std::ios::out);
diff --git a/components/settings/settings.hpp b/components/settings/settings.hpp
index f670ea1dd..e9858eb94 100644
--- a/components/settings/settings.hpp
+++ b/components/settings/settings.hpp
@@ -27,9 +27,6 @@ namespace Settings
         void loadDefault (const std::string& file);
         ///< load file as the default settings (can be overridden by user settings)
 
-        void copyDefaultToUserSettings ();
-        ///< copy the default settings to the user settings (useful when there are no user settings yet)
-
         void loadUser (const std::string& file);
         ///< load file as user settings