diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0db319bb..0294483b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+  - change default for use_sub_dirs to false (messju)
   - fix quoting of values in smarty_function_popup() (messju)
   - fix handling of hidden sections in Config_File (messju)
   - add handling of resources for {config_load} (messju)
diff --git a/libs/Smarty.class.php b/libs/Smarty.class.php
index 86bb9436..39e0230f 100644
--- a/libs/Smarty.class.php
+++ b/libs/Smarty.class.php
@@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ class Smarty
      * @var boolean
      *
      */
-    var $use_sub_dirs          = true;
+    var $use_sub_dirs          = false;
 
     /**
      * This is a list of the modifiers to apply to all template variables.