diff --git a/docs/content/commands/npm-install.md b/docs/content/commands/npm-install.md
index f05e532668fe..d6ae4324ecef 100644
--- a/docs/content/commands/npm-install.md
+++ b/docs/content/commands/npm-install.md
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ into a tarball (b).
     can be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for
     any tags or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as
     it would for a registry dependency. If neither `#<commit-ish>` or
-    `#semver:<semver>` is specified, then `master` is used.
+    `#semver:<semver>` is specified, then the default branch is used.
 
     As with regular git dependencies, `dependencies` and `devDependencies`
     will be installed if the package has a `prepare` script before the
diff --git a/docs/content/configuring-npm/package-json.md b/docs/content/configuring-npm/package-json.md
index f0315d60efef..b0231662f693 100644
--- a/docs/content/configuring-npm/package-json.md
+++ b/docs/content/configuring-npm/package-json.md
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ commit. If the commit-ish has the format `#semver:<semver>`, `<semver>` can
 be any valid semver range or exact version, and npm will look for any tags
 or refs matching that range in the remote repository, much as it would for
 a registry dependency. If neither `#<commit-ish>` or `#semver:<semver>` is
-specified, then `master` is used.
+specified, then the default branch is used.
 
 Examples: