diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index 238498ec..fe50c562 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 unreleased
 ==========
 
+## ⚠️ BREAKING CHANGES
+
+  * Change `saveUninitialized` option default from `true` to `false`
+    - New sessions are no longer saved to the store (nor a cookie set) unless modified
+      during the request; pass `saveUninitialized: true` to restore the previous behavior
+    - The deprecation warning for omitting this option has been removed
+
+## Other changes
+
   * Replace `uid-safe` dependency with built-in `crypto.randomBytes` for session ID generation
     - Session IDs keep the same format as before (32-character base64url strings)
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 1e30b86b..2ef9558f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -289,9 +289,9 @@ laws that require permission before setting a cookie. Choosing `false` will also
 help with race conditions where a client makes multiple parallel requests
 without a session.
 
-The default value is `true`, but using the default has been deprecated, as the
-default will change in the future. Please research into this setting and
-choose what is appropriate to your use-case.
+The default value is `false`. Set this to `true` if you need every new session
+to be saved to the store even when not modified, such as tracking anonymous
+visitors.
 
 **Note** if you are using Session in conjunction with PassportJS, Passport
 will add an empty Passport object to the session for use after a user is
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index c61dce0a..f16d589a 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 var cookie = require('cookie');
 var crypto = require('crypto')
 var debug = require('debug')('express-session');
-var deprecate = require('depd')('express-session');
 var onHeaders = require('on-headers')
 var parseUrl = require('parseurl');
 var signature = require('cookie-signature')
@@ -111,8 +110,7 @@ function session(options) {
   }
 
   if (saveUninitializedSession === undefined) {
-    deprecate('undefined saveUninitialized option; provide saveUninitialized option');
-    saveUninitializedSession = true;
+    saveUninitializedSession = false;
   }
 
   if (opts.unset && opts.unset !== 'destroy' && opts.unset !== 'keep') {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index f8b18235..ae2fff44 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     "cookie": "1.1.1",
     "cookie-signature": "1.0.7",
     "debug": "4.4.3",
-    "depd": "~2.0.0",
     "on-headers": "~1.0.2",
     "parseurl": "~1.3.3"
   },
diff --git a/test/session.js b/test/session.js
index 1e851dcd..2b8a312f 100644
--- a/test/session.js
+++ b/test/session.js
@@ -1091,15 +1091,15 @@ describe('session()', function(){
   });
 
   describe('saveUninitialized option', function(){
-    it('should default to true', function(done){
+    it('should default to false', function(done){
       var store = new session.MemoryStore()
-      var server = createServer({ store: store })
+      var server = createServer({ store: store, saveUninitialized: undefined })
 
       request(server)
       .get('/')
-      .expect(shouldSetSessionInStore(store))
-      .expect(shouldSetCookie('connect.sid'))
-      .expect(200, done);
+      .expect(shouldNotSetSessionInStore(store))
+      .expect(shouldNotHaveHeader('Set-Cookie'))
+      .expect(200, done)
     });
 
     it('should force save of uninitialized session', function(done){
@@ -2403,6 +2403,10 @@ function createSession(opts) {
     options.secret = 'keyboard cat'
   }
 
+  if (!('saveUninitialized' in options)) {
+    options.saveUninitialized = true
+  }
+
   return session(options)
 }