diff --git a/doc/changes/dev/13391.bugfix.rst b/doc/changes/dev/13391.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..50dc1a6e191
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/changes/dev/13391.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix :func:`~mne.viz.plot_evoked_joint` docstring to correctly document ``exclude`` parameter default as ``'bads'`` instead of ``None``, by :newcontrib:`Tharupahan Jayawardana`.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/changes/names.inc b/doc/changes/names.inc
index 462ae96a6d3..8f43de54f28 100644
--- a/doc/changes/names.inc
+++ b/doc/changes/names.inc
@@ -307,6 +307,7 @@
 .. _T. Wang: https://github.com/twang5
 .. _Tal Linzen: https://tallinzen.net/
 .. _Teon Brooks: https://github.com/teonbrooks
+.. _Tharupahan Jayawardana: https://github.com/tharu-jwd
 .. _Thomas Binns: https://github.com/tsbinns
 .. _Thomas Hartmann: https://github.com/thht
 .. _Thomas Radman: https://github.com/tradman
diff --git a/mne/viz/evoked.py b/mne/viz/evoked.py
index 9ba46eb69c3..5d57df363be 100644
--- a/mne/viz/evoked.py
+++ b/mne/viz/evoked.py
@@ -1799,7 +1799,7 @@ def plot_evoked_joint(
     times="peaks",
     title="",
     picks=None,
-    exclude=None,
+    exclude="bads",
     show=True,
     ts_args=None,
     topomap_args=None,
@@ -1826,9 +1826,9 @@ def plot_evoked_joint(
         axes are passed make sure to set ``title=None``, otherwise some of your
         axes may be removed during placement of the title axis.
     %(picks_all)s
-    exclude : None | list of str | 'bads'
+    exclude : list of str | 'bads'
         Channels names to exclude from being shown. If ``'bads'``, the
-        bad channels are excluded. Defaults to ``None``.
+        bad channels are excluded. Defaults to ``'bads'``.
     show : bool
         Show figure if ``True``. Defaults to ``True``.
     ts_args : None | dict