diff --git a/src/Mod/Import/Gui/AppImportGuiPy.cpp b/src/Mod/Import/Gui/AppImportGuiPy.cpp
index 226820f732..d2848bac32 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Import/Gui/AppImportGuiPy.cpp
+++ b/src/Mod/Import/Gui/AppImportGuiPy.cpp
@@ -343,10 +343,10 @@ private:
 
             Handle(XCAFApp_Application) hApp = XCAFApp_Application::GetApplication();
             Handle(TDocStd_Document) hDoc;
-            bool optionReadShapeCompoundMode_status;
+            bool optionReadShapeCompoundMode = true;
             hApp->NewDocument(TCollection_ExtendedString("MDTV-CAF"), hDoc);
             ParameterGrp::handle hGrp = App::GetApplication().GetParameterGroupByPath("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Import/hSTEP");
-            optionReadShapeCompoundMode_status = hGrp->GetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode",false);
+            optionReadShapeCompoundMode = hGrp->GetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode", optionReadShapeCompoundMode);
 
             if (file.hasExtension("stp") || file.hasExtension("step")) {
                 try {
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ private:
             // way. This is drastically improving STEP rendering time on complex STEP files.
             pcDoc->recompute();
             if (file.hasExtension("stp") || file.hasExtension("step"))
-                ocaf.setMerge(optionReadShapeCompoundMode_status);
+                ocaf.setMerge(optionReadShapeCompoundMode);
             ocaf.loadShapes();
             pcDoc->purgeTouched();
             pcDoc->recompute();
diff --git a/src/Mod/Import/Init.py b/src/Mod/Import/Init.py
index a8d41d69e3..0cfc05cf35 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Import/Init.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Import/Init.py
@@ -36,12 +36,11 @@ FreeCAD.addImportType("PLMXML files (*.plmxml)","PlmXmlParser")
 # Add initial parameters value if they are not set
 
 paramGetV = FreeCAD.ParamGet("User parameter:BaseApp/Preferences/Mod/Import/hSTEP")
-ReadShapeCompoundMode_status=paramGetV.GetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode")
-if not ReadShapeCompoundMode_status:
-    paramGetV.SetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode",False)
-Scheme_203_status=paramGetV.GetBool("Scheme_214")
-if not Scheme_203_status:
-    paramGetV.SetBool("Scheme_203",False)
-Scheme_214_status=paramGetV.GetBool("Scheme_214")
-if not Scheme_214_status:
-    paramGetV.SetBool("Scheme_214",True)
+if  paramGetV.GetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode", False) != paramGetV.GetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode", True):
+    paramGetV.SetBool("ReadShapeCompoundMode", True)
+
+if  paramGetV.GetBool("Scheme_203", False) != paramGetV.GetBool("Scheme_203", True):
+    paramGetV.SetBool("Scheme_203", False)
+
+if  paramGetV.GetBool("Scheme_214", False) != paramGetV.GetBool("Scheme_214", True):
+    paramGetV.SetBool("Scheme_214", True)
diff --git a/src/Mod/Import/Resources/ui/preferences-import.ui b/src/Mod/Import/Resources/ui/preferences-import.ui
index 103a895996..105f4329fb 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Import/Resources/ui/preferences-import.ui
+++ b/src/Mod/Import/Resources/ui/preferences-import.ui
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
       <string>Enable STEP Compound merge</string>
      </property>
      <property name="checked">
-       <bool>false</bool>
+       <bool>true</bool>
      </property>
      <property name="prefEntry" stdset="0">
       <cstring>ReadShapeCompoundMode</cstring>