diff --git a/compiler/sem.nim b/compiler/sem.nim
index 3392db7a9d..c70cf412b5 100644
--- a/compiler/sem.nim
+++ b/compiler/sem.nim
@@ -710,10 +710,7 @@ proc defaultNodeField(c: PContext, a: PNode, aTyp: PType, checkDefault: bool): P
     else:
       result = nil
   of tyRange:
-    if c.graph.config.isDefined("nimPreviewRangeDefault"):
-      result = firstRange(c.config, aTypSkip)
-    else:
-      result = nil
+    result = firstRange(c.config, aTypSkip)
   else:
     result = nil
 
diff --git a/compiler/semmagic.nim b/compiler/semmagic.nim
index e5799c5c1f..667abb9aaf 100644
--- a/compiler/semmagic.nim
+++ b/compiler/semmagic.nim
@@ -584,9 +584,11 @@ proc checkDefault(c: PContext, n: PNode; isDefault: bool): PNode =
   result = n
   c.config.internalAssert result[1].typ.kind == tyTypeDesc
   let constructed = result[1].typ.base
-  if constructed.requiresInit:
+  # allows simple range types because they now have a valid default value
+  if constructed.requiresInit and constructed.skipTypes({tyGenericInst}).kind != tyRange:
     # TODO: sorts out `nimPreviewRangeDefault` with `ranges` in the future
-    if isDefault:
+    # TODO: be lenient with views and notnil types for now
+    if isDefault and c.config.features * {views, notnil} != {}:
       localError(c.config, n.info, "The '$1' type doesn't have a valid default value" % typeToString(constructed))
     else:
       message(c.config, n.info, warnUnsafeDefault, typeToString(constructed))
@@ -676,7 +678,9 @@ proc magicsAfterOverloadResolution(c: PContext, n: PNode,
     let seqType = result[1].typ.skipTypes({tyPtr, tyRef, # in case we had auto-dereferencing
                                            tyVar, tyGenericInst, tyOwned, tySink,
                                            tyAlias, tyUserTypeClassInst})
-    if seqType.kind == tySequence and seqType.base.requiresInit:
+    if seqType.kind == tySequence and seqType.base.requiresInit and
+        seqType.base.skipTypes({tyGenericInst}).kind != tyRange:
+      # allows simple range types because they now have a valid default value
       message(c.config, n.info, warnUnsafeSetLen, typeToString(seqType.base))
   of mDefault:
     result = checkDefault(c, n, true)