diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-control/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/apollo-cache-control/CHANGELOG.md
index 26db288ce83..2926b944b83 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-control/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-control/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 # Changelog
 
+### vNEXT
+
+* Fix cache hints of `maxAge: 0` to mean "uncachable". (#2197)
+
+* Apply `defaultMaxAge` to scalar fields on the root object. (#???)
+
+
+(Missing release notes for 0.2.0, 0.2.1, 0.2.2, 0.2.3, 0.2.4, 0.2.5, 0.3.0,
+0.3.1, 0.3.2, 0.3.3, 0.3.4, and 0.4.0!)
+
 ### v0.1.1
 
 * Fix `defaultMaxAge` feature (introduced in 0.1.0) so that `maxAge: 0` overrides the default, as previously documented.
diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/__tests__/cacheControlDirective.test.ts b/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/__tests__/cacheControlDirective.test.ts
index 5327c3c5e08..a10ded07543 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/__tests__/cacheControlDirective.test.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/__tests__/cacheControlDirective.test.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,25 @@ describe('@cacheControl directives', () => {
     expect(hints).toContainEqual({ path: ['droid'], maxAge: 0 });
   });
 
+  it('should set maxAge: 0 and no scope for a top-level scalar field without cache hints', async () => {
+    const schema = buildSchemaWithCacheControlSupport(`
+      type Query {
+        name: String
+      }
+    `);
+
+    const hints = await collectCacheControlHints(
+      schema,
+      `
+        query {
+          name
+        }
+      `,
+    );
+
+    expect(hints).toContainEqual({ path: ['name'], maxAge: 0 });
+  });
+
   it('should set maxAge to the default and no scope for a field without cache hints', async () => {
     const schema = buildSchemaWithCacheControlSupport(`
       type Query {
diff --git a/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/index.ts b/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/index.ts
index 80d8cd23913..0165628f106 100644
--- a/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/apollo-cache-control/src/index.ts
@@ -75,26 +75,27 @@ export class CacheControlExtension<TContext = any>
       }
     }
 
-    // If this field is a field on an object, look for hints on the field
-    // itself, taking precedence over previously calculated hints.
-    const parentType = info.parentType;
-    if (parentType instanceof GraphQLObjectType) {
-      const fieldDef = parentType.getFields()[info.fieldName];
-      if (fieldDef.astNode) {
-        hint = mergeHints(
-          hint,
-          cacheHintFromDirectives(fieldDef.astNode.directives),
-        );
-      }
+    // Look for hints on the field itself (on its parent type), taking
+    // precedence over previously calculated hints.
+    const fieldDef = info.parentType.getFields()[info.fieldName];
+    if (fieldDef.astNode) {
+      hint = mergeHints(
+        hint,
+        cacheHintFromDirectives(fieldDef.astNode.directives),
+      );
     }
 
-    // If this resolver returns an object and we haven't seen an explicit maxAge
-    // hint, set the maxAge to 0 (uncached) or the default if specified in the
-    // constructor.  (Non-object fields by default are assumed to inherit their
-    // cacheability from their parents.)
+    // If this resolver returns an object or is a root field and we haven't seen
+    // an explicit maxAge hint, set the maxAge to 0 (uncached) or the default if
+    // specified in the constructor.  (Non-object fields by default are assumed
+    // to inherit their cacheability from their parents. But on the other hand,
+    // while root non-object fields can get explicit hints from their definition
+    // on the Query/Mutation object, if that doesn't exist then there's no
+    // parent field that would assign the default maxAge, so we do it here.)
     if (
       (targetType instanceof GraphQLObjectType ||
-        targetType instanceof GraphQLInterfaceType) &&
+        targetType instanceof GraphQLInterfaceType ||
+        !info.path.prev) &&
       hint.maxAge === undefined
     ) {
       hint.maxAge = this.defaultMaxAge;
@@ -167,6 +168,8 @@ export class CacheControlExtension<TContext = any>
       }
     }
 
+    // If maxAge is 0, then we consider it uncacheable so it doesn't matter what
+    // the scope was.
     return lowestMaxAge
       ? {
           maxAge: lowestMaxAge,