diff --git a/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java b/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
index 421a5ea89d..776026fdb4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rx/Observable.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import rx.exceptions.*;
 import rx.functions.*;
 import rx.internal.operators.*;
+import rx.internal.producers.SingleProducer;
 import rx.internal.util.*;
 import rx.observables.*;
 import rx.observers.SafeSubscriber;
@@ -3857,8 +3858,14 @@ public final Observable<T> debounce(long timeout, TimeUnit unit, Scheduler sched
      *         items, or the items emitted by the source Observable
      * @see <a href="http://reactivex.io/documentation/operators/defaultifempty.html">ReactiveX operators documentation: DefaultIfEmpty</a>
      */
-    public final Observable<T> defaultIfEmpty(T defaultValue) {
-        return lift(new OperatorDefaultIfEmpty<T>(defaultValue));
+    public final Observable<T> defaultIfEmpty(final T defaultValue) {
+        //if empty switch to an observable that emits defaultValue and supports backpressure
+        return switchIfEmpty(Observable.create(new OnSubscribe<T>() {
+
+            @Override
+            public void call(Subscriber<? super T> subscriber) {
+                subscriber.setProducer(new SingleProducer<T>(subscriber, defaultValue));
+            }}));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmpty.java b/src/main/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmpty.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 1265f81907..0000000000
--- a/src/main/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmpty.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,64 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright 2014 Netflix, Inc.
- *
- * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
- * use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
- * the License at
- *
- * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
- * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
- * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
- * the License.
- */
-package rx.internal.operators;
-
-import rx.Observable.Operator;
-import rx.Subscriber;
-
-/**
- * Returns the elements of the specified sequence or the specified default value
- * in a singleton sequence if the sequence is empty.
- * @param <T> the value type
- */
-public class OperatorDefaultIfEmpty<T> implements Operator<T, T> {
-    final T defaultValue;
-
-    public OperatorDefaultIfEmpty(T defaultValue) {
-        this.defaultValue = defaultValue;
-    }
-    
-    @Override
-    public Subscriber<? super T> call(final Subscriber<? super T> child) {
-        return new Subscriber<T>(child) {
-            boolean hasValue;
-            @Override
-            public void onNext(T t) {
-                hasValue = true;
-                child.onNext(t);
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public void onError(Throwable e) {
-                child.onError(e);
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public void onCompleted() {
-                if (!hasValue) {
-                    try {
-                        child.onNext(defaultValue);
-                    } catch (Throwable e) {
-                        child.onError(e);
-                        return;
-                    }
-                }
-                child.onCompleted();
-            }
-            
-        };
-    }
-    
-}
diff --git a/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmptyTest.java b/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmptyTest.java
index a180f933e2..ec6bb0486f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmptyTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/rx/internal/operators/OperatorDefaultIfEmptyTest.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import rx.Observer;
 import rx.Subscriber;
 import rx.exceptions.TestException;
+import rx.observers.TestSubscriber;
 
 public class OperatorDefaultIfEmptyTest {
 
@@ -85,4 +86,28 @@ public void onCompleted() {
         verify(o, never()).onNext(any(Integer.class));
         verify(o, never()).onCompleted();
     }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testBackpressureEmpty() {
+        TestSubscriber<Integer> ts = TestSubscriber.create(0);
+        Observable.<Integer>empty().defaultIfEmpty(1).subscribe(ts);
+        ts.assertNoValues();
+        ts.assertNoTerminalEvent();
+        ts.requestMore(1);
+        ts.assertValue(1);
+        ts.assertCompleted();
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void testBackpressureNonEmpty() {
+        TestSubscriber<Integer> ts = TestSubscriber.create(0);
+        Observable.just(1,2,3).defaultIfEmpty(1).subscribe(ts);
+        ts.assertNoValues();
+        ts.assertNoTerminalEvent();
+        ts.requestMore(2);
+        ts.assertValues(1, 2);
+        ts.requestMore(1);
+        ts.assertValues(1, 2, 3);
+        ts.assertCompleted();
+    }
 }