diff --git a/RELEASE_NOTES b/RELEASE_NOTES
index 90ba9fd7..8e55f749 100644
--- a/RELEASE_NOTES
+++ b/RELEASE_NOTES
@@ -36,6 +36,11 @@ MINOR FIXES
 A workaround for LOCK_EX on Windows systems was added, and changed a couple of
 file permissions for better security on public servers.
 
+$show_info_header is now defaulted to false instead of true. This header causes
+problems when displaying content other than HTML, so now you must explicitly
+set this flag to true to show the header information (or change the default in
+your copy of Smarty.)
+
 CHANGES/ENHANCEMENTS
 
 date_format, html_select_date and html_select_time used to require a unix
diff --git a/Smarty.class.php b/Smarty.class.php
index 2118123b..da7f52c4 100644
--- a/Smarty.class.php
+++ b/Smarty.class.php
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class Smarty
                                  );
                                  
     var $version               =   '1.4.0';  // Smarty version number                     
-    var $show_info_header      =   true;     // display info header at top of page output
+    var $show_info_header      =   false;     // display HTML info header at top of page output
 
     var $compiler_class        =   'Smarty_Compiler'; // the compiler class used by
                                                       // Smarty to compile templates
diff --git a/libs/Smarty.class.php b/libs/Smarty.class.php
index 2118123b..da7f52c4 100644
--- a/libs/Smarty.class.php
+++ b/libs/Smarty.class.php
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class Smarty
                                  );
                                  
     var $version               =   '1.4.0';  // Smarty version number                     
-    var $show_info_header      =   true;     // display info header at top of page output
+    var $show_info_header      =   false;     // display HTML info header at top of page output
 
     var $compiler_class        =   'Smarty_Compiler'; // the compiler class used by
                                                       // Smarty to compile templates