diff --git a/src/plugins/bazaar/bazaarsettings.cpp b/src/plugins/bazaar/bazaarsettings.cpp
index c0d650c4ca0..bede461bc5f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/bazaar/bazaarsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/bazaar/bazaarsettings.cpp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ BazaarSettings::BazaarSettings() :
     logFormat(QLatin1String("long"))
 {
     setSettingsGroup(QLatin1String(Constants::BAZAAR));
-    setBinary(QLatin1String(Constants::BAZAARDEFAULT));
+    setDefaultBinary(QLatin1String(Constants::BAZAARDEFAULT));
 }
 
 BazaarSettings& BazaarSettings::operator=(const BazaarSettings& other)
diff --git a/src/plugins/mercurial/mercurialsettings.cpp b/src/plugins/mercurial/mercurialsettings.cpp
index 6c52885262d..a0643394c30 100644
--- a/src/plugins/mercurial/mercurialsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/mercurial/mercurialsettings.cpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ namespace Internal {
         diffIgnoreBlankLines(false)
     {
         setSettingsGroup(QLatin1String("Mercurial"));
-        setBinary(QLatin1String(Constants::MERCURIALDEFAULT));
+        setDefaultBinary(QLatin1String(Constants::MERCURIALDEFAULT));
     }
 
     MercurialSettings& MercurialSettings::operator=(const MercurialSettings& other)
diff --git a/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.cpp b/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.cpp
index 65e85dcf221..df83a1b5903 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.cpp
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ enum { timeOutDefaultSeconds = 30 };
 */
 
 VCSBaseClientSettings::VCSBaseClientSettings() :
-   m_binary(),
     m_logCount(0),
     m_prompt(true),
     m_timeoutSeconds(timeOutDefaultSeconds)
@@ -59,6 +58,8 @@ VCSBaseClientSettings::~VCSBaseClientSettings()
 
 QString VCSBaseClientSettings::binary() const
 {
+    if (m_binary.isEmpty())
+        return defaultBinary(); // Fallback binary if not specified
     return m_binary;
 }
 
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@ void VCSBaseClientSettings::writeSettings(QSettings *settings) const
 void VCSBaseClientSettings::readSettings(const QSettings *settings)
 {
     const QString keyRoot = settingsGroup() + QLatin1Char('/');
-    m_binary = settings->value(keyRoot + QLatin1String("VCS_Path"), QString()).toString();
+    m_binary = settings->value(keyRoot + QLatin1String("VCS_Path"), defaultBinary()).toString();
     m_user = settings->value(keyRoot + QLatin1String("VCS_Username"), QString()).toString();
     m_mail = settings->value(keyRoot + QLatin1String("VCS_Email"), QString()).toString();
     m_logCount = settings->value(keyRoot + QLatin1String("VCS_LogCount"), QString()).toInt();
@@ -169,3 +170,13 @@ bool VCSBaseClientSettings::equals(const VCSBaseClientSettings &rhs) const
             && m_logCount == rhs.m_logCount && m_prompt == rhs.m_prompt
             && m_timeoutSeconds == rhs.m_timeoutSeconds;
 }
+
+QString VCSBaseClientSettings::defaultBinary() const
+{
+    return m_defaultBinary;
+}
+
+void VCSBaseClientSettings::setDefaultBinary(const QString &bin)
+{
+    m_defaultBinary = bin;
+}
diff --git a/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.h b/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.h
index 38171500b1e..9553b009e3a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.h
+++ b/src/plugins/vcsbase/vcsbaseclientsettings.h
@@ -79,8 +79,13 @@ public:
 
     virtual bool equals(const VCSBaseClientSettings &rhs) const;
 
+protected:
+    QString defaultBinary() const;
+    void setDefaultBinary(const QString &bin);
+
 private:
     QString m_binary;
+    QString m_defaultBinary;
     QStringList m_standardArguments;
     QString m_user;
     QString m_mail;