diff --git a/R/constructor.R b/R/constructor.R
index 63df1e78..738555df 100644
--- a/R/constructor.R
+++ b/R/constructor.R
@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ constructor_args <- function(parent, properties = list()) {
   if (is_class(parent) && !parent@abstract) {
     # Remove any parent properties; can't use parent_args() since the constructor
     # might automatically set some properties.
-    self_arg_nms <- setdiff(self_arg_nms, names2(parent@properties))
+    parent_prop_nms <- names2(parent@properties)
+    overridden <- intersect(self_arg_nms, parent_prop_nms)
+    for(name in overridden)
+      parent_args[[name]] <- prop_default(properties[[name]])
+
+    self_arg_nms <- setdiff(self_arg_nms, parent_prop_nms)
   }
 
   self_args <- as.pairlist(lapply(
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-constructor.R b/tests/testthat/test-constructor.R
index 02152dc3..3b744885 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-constructor.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-constructor.R
@@ -193,3 +193,19 @@ test_that("Dynamic settable properties are included in constructor", {
   expect_equal(foo@dynamic_settable, 1)
 
 })
+
+
+test_that("Child classes can change property default value", {
+
+  Foo1 = new_class("Foo1", properties = list(
+    bar = class_vector
+  ))
+
+  Foo2 = new_class("Foo2", Foo1, properties = list(
+    bar = new_property(default = 99)
+  ))
+
+  expect_identical(formals(Foo1), pairlist(bar = logical()))
+  expect_identical(formals(Foo2), pairlist(bar = 99))
+
+})