diff --git a/src/cli/commands/dns.js b/src/cli/commands/dns.js
index cf4f023f23..5fba61558e 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/dns.js
+++ b/src/cli/commands/dns.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ module.exports = {
   builder: {
     recursive: {
       type: 'boolean',
-      default: false,
+      default: true,
       alias: 'r',
       desc: 'Resolve until the result is not a DNS link'
     },
diff --git a/src/core/runtime/dns-nodejs.js b/src/core/runtime/dns-nodejs.js
index a3dd5a0e30..df7226e0b0 100644
--- a/src/core/runtime/dns-nodejs.js
+++ b/src/core/runtime/dns-nodejs.js
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ const errcode = require('err-code')
 const maxRecursiveDepth = 32
 
 module.exports = (domain, opts, callback) => {
-  const recursive = opts.recursive && opts.recursive.toString() === 'true'
+  // recursive is true by default, it's set to false only if explicitly passed as argument in opts
+  const recursive = opts.recursive === undefined || opts.recursive.toString() === 'true'
+
   let depth
   if (recursive) {
     depth = maxRecursiveDepth
diff --git a/test/cli/dns.js b/test/cli/dns.js
index 09286aa325..2f7a9fab10 100644
--- a/test/cli/dns.js
+++ b/test/cli/dns.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 const expect = require('chai').expect
 const runOnAndOff = require('../utils/on-and-off')
+const isIPFS = require('is-ipfs')
 
 describe('dns', () => runOnAndOff((thing) => {
   let ipfs
@@ -12,19 +13,33 @@ describe('dns', () => runOnAndOff((thing) => {
     ipfs = thing.ipfs
   })
 
-  it('resolve ipfs.io dns', function () {
+  it('recursively resolve ipfs.io dns', function () {
     this.timeout(60 * 1000)
 
     return ipfs('dns ipfs.io').then((res) => {
-      expect(res.substr(0, 6)).to.eql('/ipns/')
+      expect(res.substr(0, 6)).to.eql('/ipfs/')
+      const resultingDomainOrCid = res.split('/')[2].trim()
+      expect(isIPFS.cid(resultingDomainOrCid)).to.eql(true)
     })
   })
 
-  it('resolve _dnslink.ipfs.io dns', function () {
+  it('recursively resolve _dnslink.ipfs.io dns', function () {
     this.timeout(60 * 1000)
 
     return ipfs('dns _dnslink.ipfs.io').then((res) => {
+      expect(res.substr(0, 6)).to.eql('/ipfs/')
+      const resultingDomainOrCid = res.split('/')[2].trim()
+      expect(isIPFS.cid(resultingDomainOrCid)).to.eql(true)
+    })
+  })
+
+  it('non-recursive resolve ipfs.io', function () {
+    this.timeout(60 * 1000)
+
+    return ipfs('dns --recursive false ipfs.io').then((res) => {
       expect(res.substr(0, 6)).to.eql('/ipns/')
+      const resultingDomainOrCid = res.split('/')[2].trim()
+      expect(isIPFS.cid(resultingDomainOrCid)).to.eql(false)
     })
   })
 
diff --git a/test/core/dns.spec.js b/test/core/dns.spec.js
index cecd56b2fe..efba2c241d 100644
--- a/test/core/dns.spec.js
+++ b/test/core/dns.spec.js
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ describe('.dns', () => {
 
   // skipping because there is an error in https://ipfs.io/api/v0/dns?arg=ipfs.io
   // unskip once this is resolved: https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/issues/6086
-  it.skip('should resolve ipfs.io', () => {
-    return ipfs.dns('ipfs.io').then(res => {
+  it.skip('should non-recursively resolve ipfs.io', () => {
+    return ipfs.dns('ipfs.io', { recursive: false }).then(res => {
       // matches pattern /ipns/<ipnsaddress>
       expect(res).to.match(/\/ipns\/.+$/)
     })