From 858b7c541ccecc8b5bc03236ffda794064e5a868 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Huanyi Xie <74809554+xiehuanyi@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2026 14:58:19 +0300
Subject: [PATCH] Honor explicit pop defaults without creating missing values

---
 AUTHORS.rst      |  2 ++
 CHANGES.rst      |  5 +++++
 box/box.py       | 10 +++++++---
 box/box_list.py  |  7 +++++--
 test/test_box.py | 39 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 5 files changed, 58 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/AUTHORS.rst b/AUTHORS.rst
index 6b44851..0e7873e 100644
--- a/AUTHORS.rst
+++ b/AUTHORS.rst
@@ -98,3 +98,5 @@ Suggestions and bug reporting:
 - d00m514y3r
 - Sébastien Weber (seb5g)
 - Ward Loos (wrdls)
+
+- Huanyi Xie (xiehuanyi)
diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index c4a347d..a1acab8 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 Changelog
 =========
 
+Unreleased
+----------
+
+* Honor explicit ``pop`` defaults without creating missing default-box values.
+
 Version 7.4.1
 -------------
 
diff --git a/box/box.py b/box/box.py
index 8252643..6481aa1 100644
--- a/box/box.py
+++ b/box/box.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 """
 Improved dictionary access through dot notation with additional tools.
 """
+
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import copy
@@ -621,8 +622,11 @@ def __getitem__(self, item, _ignore_default=False):
                         return self.__get_default(item)
                     raise BoxKeyError(str(item)) from _exception_cause(err)
                 if first_item in self.keys():
-                    if hasattr(self[first_item], "__getitem__"):
-                        return self[first_item][children]
+                    child = self[first_item]
+                    if hasattr(child, "__getitem__"):
+                        if _ignore_default and isinstance(child, (Box, box.BoxList)):
+                            return child.__getitem__(children, _ignore_default=True)
+                        return child[children]
             if self._box_config["camel_killer_box"] and isinstance(item, str):
                 converted = _camel_killer(item)
                 if converted in self.keys():
@@ -758,7 +762,7 @@ def pop(self, key, *args):
             if len(args) != 1:
                 raise BoxError('pop() takes only one optional argument "default"')
             try:
-                item = self[key]
+                item = self.__getitem__(key, _ignore_default=True)
             except KeyError:
                 return args[0]
             else:
diff --git a/box/box_list.py b/box/box_list.py
index 72609ff..97e4b06 100644
--- a/box/box_list.py
+++ b/box/box_list.py
@@ -65,13 +65,16 @@ def frozen(*args, **kwargs):
             for method in ["append", "extend", "insert", "pop", "remove", "reverse", "sort"]:
                 self.__setattr__(method, frozen)
 
-    def __getitem__(self, item):
+    def __getitem__(self, item, _ignore_default=False):
         if self.box_options.get("box_dots") and isinstance(item, str) and item.startswith("["):
             list_pos = _list_pos_re.search(item)
             value = super().__getitem__(int(list_pos.groups()[0]))
             if len(list_pos.group()) == len(item):
                 return value
-            return value.__getitem__(item[len(list_pos.group()) :].lstrip("."))
+            children = item[len(list_pos.group()) :].lstrip(".")
+            if _ignore_default and isinstance(value, (box.Box, BoxList)):
+                return value.__getitem__(children, _ignore_default=True)
+            return value.__getitem__(children)
         if isinstance(item, tuple):
             result = self
             for idx in item:
diff --git a/test/test_box.py b/test/test_box.py
index e5c56e0..d7bb822 100644
--- a/test/test_box.py
+++ b/test/test_box.py
@@ -1506,3 +1506,42 @@ def func(box_instance, key):
         my_box = DDBox(default_box_attr=func)
 
         assert my_box.a == {"bi": "{}", "key": "a"}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("create_on_get", [True, False])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("default", [None, 0, [], {"fallback": True}])
+def test_pop_explicit_default_without_autovivification(create_on_get, default):
+    calls = []
+
+    def factory():
+        calls.append(None)
+        return "generated"
+
+    value = Box(default_box=True, default_box_attr=factory, default_box_create_on_get=create_on_get)
+    assert value.pop("missing", default) is default
+    assert value == {}
+    assert calls == []
+    value.present = 1
+    assert value.pop("present", default) == 1
+    assert value == {}
+
+
+def test_pop_explicit_default_dotted_path():
+    value = Box({"nested": {}}, default_box=True, box_dots=True)
+    default = object()
+    assert value.pop("nested.missing", default) is default
+    assert value.to_dict() == {"nested": {}}
+
+
+def test_pop_explicit_default_camel_case_key():
+    value = Box({"actualKey": 1}, default_box=True, camel_killer_box=True)
+    assert value.pop("actualKey", None) == 1
+    assert value == {}
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("path", ["items[0].missing", "items[1][0].missing"])
+def test_pop_explicit_default_dotted_list_path(path):
+    value = Box({"items": [{}, [{}]]}, default_box=True, box_dots=True)
+    default = object()
+    assert value.pop(path, default) is default
+    assert value.to_dict() == {"items": [{}, [{}]]}