diff --git a/dist/react.tagify.js b/dist/react.tagify.js
index 3af69e03..b22e9fad 100644
--- a/dist/react.tagify.js
+++ b/dist/react.tagify.js
@@ -1 +1 @@
-!function(e,t){"function"==typeof define&&define.amd?define([],t):"object"==typeof exports?module.exports=t():e.React.tagify=t()}(this,function(){"use strict";function i(e){return(i="function"==typeof Symbol&&"symbol"==typeof Symbol.iterator?function(e){return typeof e}:function(e){return e&&"function"==typeof Symbol&&e.constructor===Symbol&&e!==Symbol.prototype?"symbol":typeof e})(e)}Object.defineProperty(exports,"__esModule",{value:!0}),exports.default=void 0;var e,T=function(e){if(e&&e.__esModule)return e;if(null===e||"object"!==i(e)&&"function"!=typeof e)return{default:e};var t=a();if(t&&t.has(e))return t.get(e);var r={},n=Object.defineProperty&&Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor;for(var o in e)if(Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(e,o)){var u=n?Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(e,o):null;u&&(u.get||u.set)?Object.defineProperty(r,o,u):r[o]=e[o]}r.default=e,t&&t.set(e,r);return r}(require("react")),F=require("react-dom/server"),t=require("prop-types"),N=(e=require("./tagify.min.js"))&&e.__esModule?e:{default:e};function a(){if("function"!=typeof WeakMap)return null;var e=new WeakMap;return a=function(){return e},e}function P(e){return function(e){if(Array.isArray(e)){for(var t=0,r=new Array(e.length);t<e.length;t++)r[t]=e[t];return r}}(e)||function(e){if(Symbol.iterator in Object(e)||"[object Arguments]"===Object.prototype.toString.call(e))return Array.from(e)}(e)||function(){throw new TypeError("Invalid attempt to spread non-iterable instance")}()}require("./tagify.css");function r(e){function t(e){E.current=e}var r=e.name,n=e.value,o=void 0===n?"":n,u=e.loading,i=void 0!==u&&u,a=e.onChange,c=void 0===a?function(e){return e}:a,f=e.readOnly,l=e.settings,s=void 0===l?{}:l,d=e.InputMode,p=void 0===d?"input":d,y=e.autoFocus,g=e.className,m=e.whitelist,v=e.tagifyRef,b=e.placeholder,h=void 0===b?"":b,w=e.defaultValue,O=e.showFilteredDropdown,j=(0,T.useRef)(),E=(0,T.useRef)(),S=(0,T.useRef)(),M=(0,T.useMemo)(function(){return{ref:t,name:r,value:"string"==typeof o?o:JSON.stringify(o),className:g,readOnly:f,onChange:c,autoFocus:y,placeholder:h,defaultValue:w}},[w,h,y,g,c,f,o,r]);return(0,T.useEffect)(function(){return function(e){if(e)for(var r in e){String(e[r]).includes(".createElement")&&function(){var t=e[r];e[r]=function(e){return(0,F.renderToStaticMarkup)(T.default.createElement(t,e))}}()}}(s.templates),S.current=new N.default(E.current,s),v&&(v.current=S.current),function(){S.current.destroy()}},[]),(0,T.useEffect)(function(){j.current&&S.current.loadOriginalValues(o)},[o]),(0,T.useEffect)(function(){var e;j.current&&(e=S.current.settings.whitelist).splice.apply(e,[0,S.current.settings.whitelist.length].concat(P(m||[])))},[m]),(0,T.useEffect)(function(){j.current&&S.current.loading(i)},[i]),(0,T.useEffect)(function(){var e=S.current;j.current&&(O?(e.dropdown.show.call(e,O),e.toggleFocusClass(!0)):e.dropdown.hide.call(e))},[O]),(0,T.useEffect)(function(){j.current=!0},[]),T.default.createElement("div",{className:"tags-input"},T.default.createElement(p,M))}r.propTypes={name:t.string,value:(0,t.oneOfType)([t.string,t.array]),loading:t.bool,onChange:t.func,readOnly:t.bool,settings:t.object,InputMode:t.string,autoFocus:t.bool,className:t.string,tagifyRef:t.object,whitelist:t.array,placeholder:t.string,defaultValue:(0,t.oneOfType)([t.string,t.array]),showFilteredDropdown:(0,t.oneOfType)([t.string,t.bool])};var n=T.default.memo(r);n.displayName="Tags";var o=n;return exports.default=o,n});
\ No newline at end of file
+!function(e,t){"function"==typeof define&&define.amd?define([],t):"object"==typeof exports?module.exports=t():e.React.tagify=t()}(this,function(){"use strict";function i(e){return(i="function"==typeof Symbol&&"symbol"==typeof Symbol.iterator?function(e){return typeof e}:function(e){return e&&"function"==typeof Symbol&&e.constructor===Symbol&&e!==Symbol.prototype?"symbol":typeof e})(e)}Object.defineProperty(exports,"__esModule",{value:!0}),exports.default=void 0;var e,N=function(e){if(e&&e.__esModule)return e;if(null===e||"object"!==i(e)&&"function"!=typeof e)return{default:e};var t=a();if(t&&t.has(e))return t.get(e);var r={},n=Object.defineProperty&&Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor;for(var o in e){var u;Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(e,o)&&((u=n?Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(e,o):null)&&(u.get||u.set)?Object.defineProperty(r,o,u):r[o]=e[o])}r.default=e,t&&t.set(e,r);return r}(require("react")),T=require("react-dom/server"),t=require("prop-types"),F=(e=require("./tagify.min.js"))&&e.__esModule?e:{default:e};function a(){if("function"!=typeof WeakMap)return null;var e=new WeakMap;return a=function(){return e},e}function P(e){return function(e){if(Array.isArray(e))return n(e)}(e)||function(e){if("undefined"!=typeof Symbol&&Symbol.iterator in Object(e))return Array.from(e)}(e)||function(e,t){if(!e)return;if("string"==typeof e)return n(e,t);var r=Object.prototype.toString.call(e).slice(8,-1);"Object"===r&&e.constructor&&(r=e.constructor.name);if("Map"===r||"Set"===r)return Array.from(e);if("Arguments"===r||/^(?:Ui|I)nt(?:8|16|32)(?:Clamped)?Array$/.test(r))return n(e,t)}(e)||function(){throw new TypeError("Invalid attempt to spread non-iterable instance.\nIn order to be iterable, non-array objects must have a [Symbol.iterator]() method.")}()}function n(e,t){(null==t||t>e.length)&&(t=e.length);for(var r=0,n=new Array(t);r<t;r++)n[r]=e[r];return n}require("./tagify.css");function r(e){function t(e){S.current=e}var r,n=e.name,o=e.value,u=e.loading,i=void 0!==u&&u,a=e.onChange,f=void 0===a?function(e){return e}:a,c=e.readOnly,l=e.settings,s=void 0===l?{}:l,d=e.InputMode,p=void 0===d?"input":d,y=e.autoFocus,g=e.className,m=e.whitelist,v=e.tagifyRef,b=e.placeholder,h=void 0===b?"":b,O=e.defaultValue,w=e.showFilteredDropdown,j=(0,N.useRef)(),S=(0,N.useRef)(),E=(0,N.useRef)(),M=void 0===O?"":void 0;void 0!==o&&(M="string"==typeof o?o:JSON.stringify(o)),void 0!==O&&(r="string"==typeof O?O:JSON.stringify(O));var A=(0,N.useMemo)(function(){return{ref:t,name:n,value:M,className:g,readOnly:c,onChange:f,autoFocus:y,placeholder:h,defaultValue:r}},[O,h,y,g,f,c,o,n]);return(0,N.useEffect)(function(){return function(e){if(e)for(var r in e){String(e[r]).includes(".createElement")&&function(){var t=e[r];e[r]=function(e){return(0,T.renderToStaticMarkup)(N.default.createElement(t,e))}}()}}(s.templates),E.current=new F.default(S.current,s),v&&(v.current=E.current),function(){E.current.destroy()}},[]),(0,N.useEffect)(function(){j.current&&E.current.loadOriginalValues(o)},[o]),(0,N.useEffect)(function(){var e;j.current&&(e=E.current.settings.whitelist).splice.apply(e,[0,E.current.settings.whitelist.length].concat(P(m||[])))},[m]),(0,N.useEffect)(function(){j.current&&E.current.loading(i)},[i]),(0,N.useEffect)(function(){var e=E.current;j.current&&(w?(e.dropdown.show.call(e,w),e.toggleFocusClass(!0)):e.dropdown.hide.call(e))},[w]),(0,N.useEffect)(function(){j.current=!0},[]),N.default.createElement("div",{className:"tags-input"},N.default.createElement(p,A))}r.propTypes={name:t.string,value:(0,t.oneOfType)([t.string,t.array]),loading:t.bool,onChange:t.func,readOnly:t.bool,settings:t.object,InputMode:t.string,autoFocus:t.bool,className:t.string,tagifyRef:t.object,whitelist:t.array,placeholder:t.string,defaultValue:(0,t.oneOfType)([t.string,t.array]),showFilteredDropdown:(0,t.oneOfType)([t.string,t.bool])};var o=N.default.memo(r);return o.displayName="Tags",exports.default=o});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/react.tagify.js b/src/react.tagify.js
index 281a04ae..ff7ea631 100644
--- a/src/react.tagify.js
+++ b/src/react.tagify.js
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ function templatesToString(templates) {
 
 const TagifyWrapper = ({
     name,
-    value = "",
+    value,
     loading = false,
     onChange = _ => _,
     readOnly,
@@ -42,17 +42,28 @@ const TagifyWrapper = ({
         inputElmRef.current = elm
     }
 
+    let initialValue = defaultValue === undefined ? '' : undefined
+    let initialDefaultValue
+
+    if (value !== undefined) {
+        initialValue = typeof value === "string" ? value : JSON.stringify(value)
+    }
+
+    if (defaultValue !== undefined) {
+        initialDefaultValue = typeof defaultValue === "string" ? defaultValue : JSON.stringify(defaultValue)
+    }
+
     const inputAttrs = useMemo(
         () => ({
             ref: handleRef,
             name,
-            value: typeof value === "string" ? value : JSON.stringify(value),
+            value: initialValue,
             className,
             readOnly,
             onChange,
             autoFocus,
             placeholder,
-            defaultValue
+            defaultValue: initialDefaultValue
         }),
         [
             defaultValue,