diff --git a/nacc-wordpress-plugin.php b/nacc-wordpress-plugin.php
index 9de76e1..6a3d6b0 100644
--- a/nacc-wordpress-plugin.php
+++ b/nacc-wordpress-plugin.php
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ class NACC {
 	private const DEFAULT_THEME = 'NACC-Instance';
 	private const DEFAULT_LANGUAGE = 'en';
 	private const DEFAULT_LAYOUT = 'linear';
-	private const DEFAULT_SHOW_SPECIAL = 'true';
+	private const DEFAULT_SHOW_SPECIAL = false;
 
 	private $plugin_dir;
 	/**
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ private static function render_keytags( array $args ): void {
 				wp_json_encode( esc_attr( $args['theme'] ) ),
 				wp_json_encode( esc_attr( $args['language'] ) ),
 				wp_json_encode( esc_attr( $args['layout'] ) ),
-				wp_json_encode( esc_attr( $args['special'] ) ),
+				wp_json_encode( (bool) $args['special'] ),
 				wp_json_encode( esc_attr( $args['siteURI'] ) )
 			)
 		);
@@ -316,6 +316,7 @@ public static function register_settings(): void {
 			'nacc_special',
 			[
 				'type' => 'boolean',
+				'default' => self::DEFAULT_SHOW_SPECIAL,
 				'sanitize_callback' => 'wp_validate_boolean',
 			]
 		);
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index 5ac2891..658d3a1 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ That text will be replaced with this cleantime calculator.
 
 = 6.0.2 =
 
+* Fixed the "Show Special Keytags" default so that specialty (over 2 years) tags stay hidden until the setting is explicitly enabled, matching the unchecked checkbox and "Default is false." label.
 * Added a "How to Use" help section to the Settings → NACC admin page documenting the `[nacc]` shortcode, its attributes, and what each setting does.
 
 = 6.0.1 =