diff --git a/cli/src/main/resources/scalaxb.scala.template b/cli/src/main/resources/scalaxb.scala.template
index 607093b11..e8e96db60 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/resources/scalaxb.scala.template
+++ b/cli/src/main/resources/scalaxb.scala.template
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ trait CanReadXML[A] {
 }
 
 trait CanWriteXML[A] {
+  def defaultElementLabel: Option[String] = None
   def writes(obj: A, namespace: Option[String], elementLabel: Option[String],
       scope: NamespaceBinding, typeAttribute: Boolean): NodeSeq
 }
@@ -733,7 +734,7 @@ trait CanWriteChildNodes[A] extends CanWriteXML[A] {
   def writes(obj: A, namespace: Option[String], elementLabel: Option[String],
       scope: scala.xml.NamespaceBinding, typeAttribute: Boolean): scala.xml.NodeSeq = {
     val elem =  scala.xml.Elem(Helper.getPrefix(namespace, scope).orNull,
-      elementLabel getOrElse { sys.error("missing element label.") },
+      elementLabel orElse defaultElementLabel getOrElse { sys.error("missing element label.") },
       writesAttribute(obj, scope),
       scope, true,
       writesChildNodes(obj, scope): _*)
diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala/scalaxb/compiler/xsd/GenSource.scala b/cli/src/main/scala/scalaxb/compiler/xsd/GenSource.scala
index 9b50572d9..add9f93f2 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala/scalaxb/compiler/xsd/GenSource.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala/scalaxb/compiler/xsd/GenSource.scala
@@ -168,7 +168,8 @@ class GenSource(val schema: SchemaDecl,
         }}
       case _ => Left("reads failed: seq must be scala.xml.Node")  
     }}
-    
+
+    override val defaultElementLabel: Option[String] = { quote(decl.family.headOption) }
     def writes(__obj: {fqn}, __namespace: Option[String], __elementLabel: Option[String],
         __scope: scala.xml.NamespaceBinding, __typeAttribute: Boolean): scala.xml.NodeSeq = __obj match {{
       { val cases = for (sub <- context.baseToSubs(decl))
@@ -388,6 +389,7 @@ class GenSource(val schema: SchemaDecl,
 
     def defaultFormats = if (simpleFromXml) <source>  trait Default{formatterName} extends scalaxb.XMLFormat[{fqn}] with scalaxb.CanWriteChildNodes[{fqn}] {{
     val targetNamespace: Option[String] = { quote(schema.targetNamespace) }
+    override val defaultElementLabel: Option[String] = { quote(decl.family.headOption) }
     import scalaxb.ElemName._
     
     def reads(seq: scala.xml.NodeSeq, stack: List[scalaxb.ElemName]): Either[String, {fqn}] = seq match {{
@@ -398,6 +400,7 @@ class GenSource(val schema: SchemaDecl,
 {makeWritesAttribute}{makeWritesChildNodes}
   }}</source>
     else <source>  trait Default{formatterName} extends {defaultFormatSuperNames.mkString(" with ")} {{
+    override val defaultElementLabel: Option[String] = { quote(decl.family.headOption) }
     val targetNamespace: Option[String] = { quote(schema.targetNamespace) }
     
     { if (decl.isNamed) "override def typeName: Option[String] = Some(" + quote(decl.name) + ")" + newline + newline + indent(2)  
@@ -492,6 +495,7 @@ class GenSource(val schema: SchemaDecl,
     Snippet(<source>{ buildComment(seq) }case class {localName}({paramsString}){superString}</source>,
       <source/>,
       <source>  trait Default{formatterName} extends scalaxb.XMLFormat[{fqn}] {{
+    final override def defaultElementLabel: Option[String] = None  // sequences have no label
     def reads(seq: scala.xml.NodeSeq, stack: List[scalaxb.ElemName]): Either[String, {fqn}] = Left("don't call me.")
     
 {makeWritesXML}
@@ -642,6 +646,7 @@ object {localName} {{
       <source>  def build{formatterName} = new Default{formatterName} {{}}
   trait Default{formatterName} extends scalaxb.XMLFormat[{fqn}] {{
     val targetNamespace: Option[String] = { quote(schema.targetNamespace) }
+    override val defaultElementLabel: Option[String] = { quote(decl.family.headOption) }
     
     def fromString(value: String, scope: scala.xml.NamespaceBinding): {fqn} = {valueCode} match {{
 { enums.map(e => makeCaseEntry(e)) }
@@ -655,7 +660,7 @@ object {localName} {{
     def writes(__obj: {fqn}, __namespace: Option[String], __elementLabel: Option[String],
         __scope: scala.xml.NamespaceBinding, __typeAttribute: Boolean): scala.xml.NodeSeq =
       scala.xml.Elem(scalaxb.Helper.getPrefix(__namespace, __scope).orNull, 
-        __elementLabel getOrElse {{ sys.error("missing element label.") }},
+        __elementLabel orElse defaultElementLabel getOrElse {{ sys.error("missing element label.") }},
         scala.xml.Null, __scope, true, scala.xml.Text(__obj.toString))
   }}</source>,
       makeImplicitValue(fqn, formatterName))
diff --git a/integration/src/test/resources/can_write_default_label.xsd b/integration/src/test/resources/can_write_default_label.xsd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aba984063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/src/test/resources/can_write_default_label.xsd
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<schema xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
+        xmlns:defaultLabels="http://www.example.com/default-labels"
+        targetNamespace="http://www.example.com/default-labels">
+
+    <element name="docdata">
+        <complexType>
+            <choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
+                <element ref="defaultLabels:docid"/>
+                <element ref="defaultLabels:urgency"/>
+            </choice>
+        </complexType>
+    </element>
+
+    <element name="urgency">
+        <complexType>
+            <attribute name="urg" type="NMTOKEN"/>
+        </complexType>
+    </element>
+    <element name="docid">
+        <complexType>
+            <attribute name="idstring" type="string"/>
+        </complexType>
+    </element>
+</schema>
diff --git a/integration/src/test/scala/CanWriteDefaultLabelTest.scala b/integration/src/test/scala/CanWriteDefaultLabelTest.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..de2cf5637
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration/src/test/scala/CanWriteDefaultLabelTest.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import scalaxb.compiler.Config
+import scalaxb.compiler.ConfigEntry._
+
+object CanWriteDefaultLabelTest extends TestBase {
+  private val schemaFile = resource("can_write_default_label.xsd")
+
+  private def generate() = {
+    val config = Config.default.update(Outdir(tmp)).update(PackageNames(Map(None -> Some("defaultLabels"))))
+    module.process(schemaFile, config)
+  }
+
+  "XML generation falls back to default labels if none are specified" >> {
+    repl(generate())(
+      s"""
+         import defaultLabels._
+         import scalaxb.DataRecord
+
+         val urgency = Urgency()
+         val docId = Docid()
+         val options = Seq(DataRecord(urgency), DataRecord(None, Some("customDocIdTag"), docId))
+         scalaxb.toXML(Docdata(options), "docdata", scala.xml.TopScope).toString
+       """, expectedResult = scala.xml.Utility.trim(
+        <docdata>
+          <urgency />
+          <customDocIdTag />
+        </docdata>).toString)
+  }
+}