I just noticed something odd. :reset (or :set &var) doesn't restore a compile-time default if the default is empty. :set smtp_url=foo :set ?smtp_url smtp_url="foo" :reset smtp_url :set ?smtp_url smtp_url="foo" Contrast this to a variable that has a non-empty default value: :set sendmail=foo :set ?sendmail sendmail="foo" :reset sendmail :set ?sendmail sendmail="/usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi" Seems like a bug?