diff --git a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc
index 7afcb29101..159f4e7e06 100644
--- a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc
+++ b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/spring-boot-features.adoc
@@ -1351,11 +1351,14 @@ for use within Logback. This can be useful if you want to access values from you
 `application.properties` file in your logback configuration. The tag works in a similar
 way to Logback's standard `<property>` tag, but rather than specifying a direct `value`
 you specify the `source` of the property (from the `Environment`). You can use the `scope`
-attribute if you need to store the property somewhere other than in `local` scope.
+attribute if you need to store the property somewhere other than in `local` scope. If
+you need a fallback value in case the property is not set in the `Environment`, you can
+use the `defaultValue` attribute.
 
 [source,xml,indent=0]
 ----
-	<springProperty scope="context" name="fluentHost" source="myapp.fluentd.host"/>
+	<springProperty scope="context" name="fluentHost" source="myapp.fluentd.host"
+			defaultValue="localhost"/>
 	<appender name="FLUENT" class="ch.qos.logback.more.appenders.DataFluentAppender">
 		<remoteHost>${fluentHost}</remoteHost>
 		...
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringPropertyAction.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringPropertyAction.java
index 55523ff5c4..f9ad96dafc 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringPropertyAction.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringPropertyAction.java
@@ -32,10 +32,12 @@ import org.springframework.core.env.Environment;
  * properties to be sourced from the Spring environment.
  *
  * @author Phillip Webb
+ * @author Eddú Meléndez
  */
 class SpringPropertyAction extends Action {
 
 	private static final String SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE = "source";
+	private static final String DEFAULT_VALUE_ATTRIBUTE = "defaultValue";
 
 	private final Environment environment;
 
@@ -49,17 +51,18 @@ class SpringPropertyAction extends Action {
 		String name = attributes.getValue(NAME_ATTRIBUTE);
 		String source = attributes.getValue(SOURCE_ATTRIBUTE);
 		Scope scope = ActionUtil.stringToScope(attributes.getValue(SCOPE_ATTRIBUTE));
+		String defaultValue = attributes.getValue(DEFAULT_VALUE_ATTRIBUTE);
 		if (OptionHelper.isEmpty(name) || OptionHelper.isEmpty(source)) {
 			addError(
 					"The \"name\" and \"source\" attributes of <springProperty> must be set");
 		}
-		ActionUtil.setProperty(ic, name, getValue(source), scope);
+		ActionUtil.setProperty(ic, name, getValue(source, defaultValue), scope);
 	}
 
-	private String getValue(String source) {
+	private String getValue(String source, String defaultValue) {
 		if (this.environment == null) {
 			addWarn("No Spring Environment available to resolve " + source);
-			return null;
+			return defaultValue;
 		}
 		String value = this.environment.getProperty(source);
 		if (value != null) {
@@ -70,9 +73,9 @@ class SpringPropertyAction extends Action {
 			String prefix = source.substring(0, lastDot + 1);
 			RelaxedPropertyResolver resolver = new RelaxedPropertyResolver(
 					this.environment, prefix);
-			return resolver.getProperty(source.substring(lastDot + 1));
+			return resolver.getProperty(source.substring(lastDot + 1), defaultValue);
 		}
-		return null;
+		return defaultValue;
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringBootJoranConfiguratorTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringBootJoranConfiguratorTests.java
index 46c49c57d7..e1b99132a6 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringBootJoranConfiguratorTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/SpringBootJoranConfiguratorTests.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
  *
  * @author Phillip Webb
  * @author Eddú Meléndez
+ * @author Stephane Nicoll
  */
 public class SpringBootJoranConfiguratorTests {
 
@@ -140,6 +141,30 @@ public class SpringBootJoranConfiguratorTests {
 		assertThat(this.context.getProperty("MINE")).isEqualTo("test");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void springPropertyNoValue() throws Exception {
+		initialize("property.xml");
+		assertThat(this.context.getProperty("SIMPLE")).isNull();
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void relaxedSpringPropertyNoValue() throws Exception {
+		initialize("property.xml");
+		assertThat(this.context.getProperty("MINE")).isNull();
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void springPropertyWithDefaultValue() throws Exception {
+		initialize("property-default-value.xml");
+		assertThat(this.context.getProperty("SIMPLE")).isEqualTo("foo");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void relaxedSpringPropertyWithDefaultValue() throws Exception {
+		initialize("property-default-value.xml");
+		assertThat(this.context.getProperty("MINE")).isEqualTo("bar");
+	}
+
 	private void doTestNestedProfile(boolean expected, String... profiles)
 			throws JoranException {
 		this.environment.setActiveProfiles(profiles);
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property-default-value.xml b/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property-default-value.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dd00a99b87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property-default-value.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<configuration>
+	<include resource="org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/base.xml" />
+	<springProperty scope="context" name="SIMPLE" source="testpropertyfoobar" defaultValue="foo"/>
+	<springProperty scope="context" name="MINE" source="my.example-property" defaultValue="bar"/>
+</configuration>
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property.xml b/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property.xml
index 5b9e062b32..15ef50ae32 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property.xml
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/resources/org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/property.xml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <configuration>
 	<include resource="org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/base.xml" />
+	<springProperty scope="context" name="SIMPLE" source="testpropertyfoobar"/>
 	<springProperty scope="context" name="MINE" source="my.example-property"/>
 </configuration>