diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/Option.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/Option.java
index 5cd6b73c2ce3ad..784ba640d41f7b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/Option.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/Option.java
@@ -63,17 +63,11 @@
    * "null" is only applicable when computing the default value; if specified
    * on the command-line, this string will have its usual literal meaning.
    *
-   * <p>The default value for flags that set allowMultiple to true should be set with
-   * {@link #defaultMultipleValue()}
+   * <p>The default value for flags that set allowMultiple is always the empty
+   * list and its default value is ignored.
    */
   String defaultValue();
 
-  /**
-   * This method is an extension of {@link #defaultValue()} and it enables setting default values
-   * for flags whose allowMultiple is true. In that case {@link #defaultValue()} is ignored.
-   */
-  String[] defaultMultipleValue() default {};
-
   /**
    * A string describing the category of options that this belongs to. {@link
    * OptionsParser#describeOptions} prints options of the same category grouped
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsData.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsData.java
index 2683121062900d..0038cad95356b7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsData.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsData.java
@@ -144,36 +144,29 @@ private static List<Field> getAllAnnotatedFields(Class<? extends OptionsBase> op
   }
 
   private static Object retrieveDefaultFromAnnotation(Field optionField) {
-    Option annotation = optionField.getAnnotation(Option.class);
-    // If an option can be specified multiple times then get the default value from the
-    // defaultMultipleValue and ignore defaultValue
-    if (annotation.allowMultiple()) {
-      // Create a list with each value in defaultMultipleValue converted
-      String[] defaultMultipleValueString =
-          OptionsParserImpl.getDefaultMultipleOptionString(optionField);
-      ImmutableList.Builder<Object> builder = new ImmutableList.Builder<>();
-      for (String element : defaultMultipleValueString) {
-        builder.add(convertDefaultValueFromAnnotation(element, optionField));
-      }
-      return builder.build();
+    Converter<?> converter = OptionsParserImpl.findConverter(optionField);
+    String defaultValueAsString = OptionsParserImpl.getDefaultOptionString(optionField);
+    // Special case for "null"
+    if (OptionsParserImpl.isSpecialNullDefault(defaultValueAsString, optionField)) {
+      return null;
     }
-    // Otherwise convert the defaultValue
-    return convertDefaultValueFromAnnotation(
-        OptionsParserImpl.getDefaultOptionString(optionField),
-        optionField);
-  }
-
-  private static Object convertDefaultValueFromAnnotation(String defaultValueString,
-      Field optionField) {
+    boolean allowsMultiple = optionField.getAnnotation(Option.class).allowMultiple();
+    // If the option allows multiple values then we intentionally return the empty list as
+    // the default value of this option since it is not always the case that an option
+    // that allows multiple values will have a converter that returns a list value.
+    if (allowsMultiple) {
+      return Collections.emptyList();
+    }
+    // Otherwise try to convert the default value using the converter
+    Object convertedValue;
     try {
-      return OptionsParserImpl.isSpecialNullDefault(defaultValueString, optionField)
-          ? null
-          : OptionsParserImpl.findConverter(optionField).convert(defaultValueString);
+      convertedValue = converter.convert(defaultValueAsString);
     } catch (OptionsParsingException e) {
       throw new IllegalStateException("OptionsParsingException while "
           + "retrieving default for " + optionField.getName() + ": "
           + e.getMessage());
     }
+    return convertedValue;
   }
 
   static OptionsData of(Collection<Class<? extends OptionsBase>> classes) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserImpl.java
index 6f9ca021dc8489..96fb4963fc759d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserImpl.java
@@ -774,11 +774,6 @@ static String getDefaultOptionString(Field optionField) {
     return annotation.defaultValue();
   }
 
-  static String[] getDefaultMultipleOptionString(Field optionField) {
-    Option annotation = optionField.getAnnotation(Option.class);
-    return annotation.defaultMultipleValue();
-  }
-
   static boolean isBooleanField(Field field) {
     return field.getType().equals(boolean.class)
         || field.getType().equals(TriState.class)
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserTest.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserTest.java
index 96845a1ff6a3ac..a6ca76ed3d55de 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/common/options/OptionsParserTest.java
@@ -105,22 +105,6 @@ public static class ExampleBoom extends OptionsBase {
     public String boom;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Example with multiple default values
-   */
-  public static class ExampleMultiple extends OptionsBase {
-    @Option(name = "multiple",
-        defaultValue = "",
-        defaultMultipleValue = {"a", "b"},
-        allowMultiple = true)
-    public List<String> multiple;
-
-    @Option(name = "emptyMultiple",
-        defaultValue = "",
-        allowMultiple = true)
-    public List<String> emptyMultiple;
-  }
-
   public static class StringConverter implements Converter<String> {
     @Override
     public String convert(String input) {
@@ -239,22 +223,6 @@ public void parseAndOverrideWithEmptyStringToObtainNullValueInOption()
     assertNull(boom.boom);
   }
 
-  @Test
-  public void parseWithMultipleDefaultValues() throws OptionsParsingException {
-    OptionsParser parser = newOptionsParser(ExampleMultiple.class);
-    parser.parse();
-    ExampleMultiple multiple = parser.getOptions(ExampleMultiple.class);
-    assertThat(multiple.multiple).containsExactly("a", "b");
-  }
-
-  @Test
-  public void parseWithEmptyMultipleDefaultValues() throws OptionsParsingException {
-    OptionsParser parser = newOptionsParser(ExampleMultiple.class);
-    parser.parse();
-    ExampleMultiple multiple = parser.getOptions(ExampleMultiple.class);
-    assertThat(multiple.emptyMultiple).isEmpty();
-  }
-
   public static class CategoryTest extends OptionsBase {
     @Option(name = "swiss_bank_account_number",
             category = "undocumented", // Not printed in usage messages!