diff --git a/docs/manpages/ndnsec-key-gen.rst b/docs/manpages/ndnsec-key-gen.rst
index 6e18c20..2df5237 100644
--- a/docs/manpages/ndnsec-key-gen.rst
+++ b/docs/manpages/ndnsec-key-gen.rst
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 
 .. option:: -t <type>, --type <type>
 
-   Type of key to generate. "r" for RSA (the default), "e" for ECDSA.
+   Type of key to generate. "r" for RSA, "e" for ECDSA (the default).
 
 .. option:: -k <keyidtype>, --keyid-type <keyidtype>
 
diff --git a/tools/ndnsec/key-gen.cpp b/tools/ndnsec/key-gen.cpp
index 3da06be..1d3d79a 100644
--- a/tools/ndnsec/key-gen.cpp
+++ b/tools/ndnsec/key-gen.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     ("help,h", "produce help message")
     ("identity,i",    po::value<Name>(&identityName), "identity name, e.g., /ndn/edu/ucla/alice")
     ("not-default,n", po::bool_switch(&wantNotDefault), "do not set the identity as default")
-    ("type,t",        po::value<char>(&keyTypeChoice)->default_value('r'),
+    ("type,t",        po::value<char>(&keyTypeChoice)->default_value('e'),
                       "key type: 'r' for RSA, 'e' for ECDSA")
     ("keyid-type,k",  po::value<char>(&keyIdTypeChoice),
                       "key id type: 'h' for the SHA-256 of the public key, 'r' for a 64-bit "