diff --git a/src/core/core.datasetController.js b/src/core/core.datasetController.js
index 3f9b8d5464e..1737ed6954c 100644
--- a/src/core/core.datasetController.js
+++ b/src/core/core.datasetController.js
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ helpers.extend(DatasetController.prototype, {
 		me.index = datasetIndex;
 		me.linkScales();
 		me.addElements();
+		me._type = me.getMeta().type;
 	},
 
 	updateIndex: function(datasetIndex) {
@@ -241,9 +242,7 @@ helpers.extend(DatasetController.prototype, {
 	 */
 	_defaults: function() {
 		var me = this;
-		var dataset = me.getDataset();
-		var type = helpers.valueOrDefault(dataset.type, me.chart.config.type);
-		return defaults.datasets[type];
+		return defaults.datasets[me._type] || {};
 	},
 
 	update: helpers.noop,