diff --git a/alsactl/alsactl.1 b/alsactl/alsactl.1
index c515fdd..8423b82 100644
--- a/alsactl/alsactl.1
+++ b/alsactl/alsactl.1
@@ -142,6 +142,11 @@ Set the process priority (see 'man nice')
 \fI\-c, \-\-sched-idle\fP
 Set the process scheduling policy to idle (SCHED_IDLE).
 
+.TP
+\fI\-D, \-\-ucm-defaults\fP
+Execute also the 'defaults' section from the UCM configuration. The standard
+behaviour is to execute only 'once' section.
+
 .SH FILES
 \fI/var/lib/alsa/asound.state\fP (or whatever file you specify with the
 \fB\-f\fP flag) is used to store current settings for your
diff --git a/alsactl/alsactl.c b/alsactl/alsactl.c
index 92ce270..1971d4e 100644
--- a/alsactl/alsactl.c
+++ b/alsactl/alsactl.c
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ static struct arg args[] = {
 { 's', "syslog", "use syslog for messages" },
 { INTARG | 'n', "nice", "set the process priority (see 'man nice')" },
 { 'c', "sched-idle", "set the process scheduling policy to idle (SCHED_IDLE)" },
+{ 'D', "ucm-defaults", "execute also the UCM 'defaults' section" },
 { HEADER, NULL, "Available commands:" },
 { CARDCMD, "store", "save current driver setup for one or each soundcards" },
 { EMPCMD, NULL, "  to configuration file" },
@@ -191,6 +192,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int daemoncmd = 0;
 	int use_nice = NO_NICE;
 	int sched_idle = 0;
+	int initflags = 0;
 	struct arg *a;
 	struct option *o;
 	int i, j, k, res;
@@ -263,6 +265,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		case 'I':
 			init_fallback = 0;
 			break;
+		case 'D':
+			initflags |= FLAG_UCM_DEFAULTS;
+			break;
 		case 'r':
 			statefile = optarg;
 			break;
@@ -357,7 +362,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	snd_lib_error_set_handler(error_handler);
 
 	if (!strcmp(cmd, "init")) {
-		res = init(initfile, cardname);
+		res = init(initfile, initflags, cardname);
 		snd_config_update_free_global();
 	} else if (!strcmp(cmd, "store")) {
 		res = save_state(cfgfile, cardname);
@@ -366,7 +371,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		   !strcmp(cmd, "nrestore")) {
 		if (removestate)
 			remove(statefile);
-		res = load_state(cfgfile, initfile, cardname, init_fallback);
+		res = load_state(cfgfile, initfile, initflags, cardname, init_fallback);
 		if (!strcmp(cmd, "rdaemon")) {
 			do_nice(use_nice, sched_idle);
 			res = state_daemon(cfgfile, cardname, period, pidfile);
diff --git a/alsactl/alsactl.h b/alsactl/alsactl.h
index 853a701..2352f4c 100644
--- a/alsactl/alsactl.h
+++ b/alsactl/alsactl.h
@@ -25,13 +25,15 @@ void error_handler(const char *file, int line, const char *function, int err, co
 #define dbg(args...) do { dbg_(__func__, __LINE__, ##args); }  while (0)
 #endif	
 
-int init(const char *file, const char *cardname);
-int init_ucm(int cardno);
+#define FLAG_UCM_DEFAULTS	(1<<0)
+
+int init(const char *file, int flags, const char *cardname);
+int init_ucm(int flags, int cardno);
 int state_lock(const char *file, int timeout);
 int state_unlock(int fd, const char *file);
 int save_state(const char *file, const char *cardname);
-int load_state(const char *file, const char *initfile, const char *cardname,
-	       int do_init);
+int load_state(const char *file, const char *initfile, int initflags,
+	       const char *cardname, int do_init);
 int power(const char *argv[], int argc);
 int monitor(const char *name);
 int state_daemon(const char *file, const char *cardname, int period,
diff --git a/alsactl/init_parse.c b/alsactl/init_parse.c
index f176a7a..4ece067 100644
--- a/alsactl/init_parse.c
+++ b/alsactl/init_parse.c
@@ -1742,7 +1742,7 @@ static int parse(struct space *space, const char *filename)
 	return err ? err : -abs(space->exit_code);
 }
 
-int init(const char *filename, const char *cardname)
+int init(const char *filename, int flags, const char *cardname)
 {
 	struct space *space;
 	int err = 0, lasterr = 0, card, first;
@@ -1762,7 +1762,7 @@ int init(const char *filename, const char *cardname)
 				break;
 			}
 			first = 0;
-			err = init_ucm(card);
+			err = init_ucm(flags, card);
 			if (err == 0)
 				continue;
 			err = init_space(&space, card);
@@ -1787,7 +1787,7 @@ int init(const char *filename, const char *cardname)
 			error("Cannot find soundcard '%s'...", cardname);
 			goto error;
 		}
-		err = init_ucm(card);
+		err = init_ucm(flags, card);
 		if (err == 0)
 			return 0;
 		memset(&space, 0, sizeof(space));
diff --git a/alsactl/init_ucm.c b/alsactl/init_ucm.c
index 833a1f9..9c05300 100644
--- a/alsactl/init_ucm.c
+++ b/alsactl/init_ucm.c
@@ -19,12 +19,14 @@
  *
  */
 
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include "alsactl.h"
 #include <alsa/use-case.h>
 
 /*
  * Keep it as simple as possible. Execute commands from the SectionOnce only.
  */
-int init_ucm(int cardno)
+int init_ucm(int flags, int cardno)
 {
 	snd_use_case_mgr_t *uc_mgr;
 	char id[32];
@@ -35,6 +37,14 @@ int init_ucm(int cardno)
 	if (err < 0)
 		return err;
 	err = snd_use_case_set(uc_mgr, "_once", NULL);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto _error;
+	if ((flags & FLAG_UCM_DEFAULTS) != 0) {
+		err = snd_use_case_set(uc_mgr, "_defaults", NULL);
+		if (err < 0)
+			goto _error;
+	}
+_error:
 	snd_use_case_mgr_close(uc_mgr);
 	return err;
 }
diff --git a/alsactl/state.c b/alsactl/state.c
index 22e0269..ea1d3bc 100644
--- a/alsactl/state.c
+++ b/alsactl/state.c
@@ -1645,8 +1645,8 @@ out:
 	return err;
 }
 
-int load_state(const char *file, const char *initfile, const char *cardname,
-	       int do_init)
+int load_state(const char *file, const char *initfile, int initflags,
+	       const char *cardname, int do_init)
 {
 	int err, finalerr = 0;
 	snd_config_t *config;
@@ -1704,7 +1704,7 @@ single:
 			if (!do_init)
 				break;
 			sprintf(cardname1, "%i", card);
-			err = init(initfile, cardname1);
+			err = init(initfile, initflags, cardname1);
 			if (err < 0) {
 				finalerr = err;
 				initfailed(card, "init", err);
@@ -1743,7 +1743,7 @@ single:
 			/* do a check if controls matches state file */
  			if (do_init && set_controls(card, config, 0)) {
 				sprintf(cardname1, "%i", card);
-				err = init(initfile, cardname1);
+				err = init(initfile, initflags, cardname1);
 				if (err < 0) {
 					initfailed(card, "init", err);
 					finalerr = err;
@@ -1766,7 +1766,7 @@ single:
 		}
 		/* do a check if controls matches state file */
 		if (do_init && set_controls(cardno, config, 0)) {
-			err = init(initfile, cardname);
+			err = init(initfile, initflags, cardname);
 			if (err < 0) {
 				initfailed(cardno, "init", err);
 				finalerr = err;