diff --git a/package-build.el b/package-build.el
index a6778a69..1954a314 100644
--- a/package-build.el
+++ b/package-build.el
@@ -852,7 +852,7 @@ for ALLOW-EMPTY to prevent this error."
     (cond
      ((null file-list)
       package-build-default-files-spec)
-     ((eq :default (car file-list))
+     ((eq :defaults (car file-list))
       (append package-build-default-files-spec (cdr file-list)))
      (t
       file-list))))