diff --git a/lib/tasks/annotate_models.rake b/lib/tasks/annotate_models.rake
index 980dc31d8..b06df847c 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/annotate_models.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/annotate_models.rake
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ task :annotate_models => :environment do
   options[:position_in_serializer] = Annotate.fallback(ENV['position_in_serializer'], ENV['position'])
   options[:show_indexes] = Annotate.true?(ENV['show_indexes'])
   options[:simple_indexes] = Annotate.true?(ENV['simple_indexes'])
-  options[:model_dir] = ENV['model_dir'] ? ENV['model_dir'].split(',') : []
+  options[:model_dir] = ENV['model_dir'] ? ENV['model_dir'].split(',') : ['app/models']
   options[:include_version] = Annotate.true?(ENV['include_version'])
   options[:require] = ENV['require'] ? ENV['require'].split(',') : []
   options[:exclude_tests] = Annotate.true?(ENV['exclude_tests'])