diff --git a/MANUAL.txt b/MANUAL.txt
index 8a73b867a..5e954fef5 100644
--- a/MANUAL.txt
+++ b/MANUAL.txt
@@ -422,11 +422,12 @@ header when requesting a document from a URL:
     and output files, can be set using a defaults file.  The file will
     be searched for first in the working directory, and then in
     the `defaults` subdirectory of the user data directory
-    (see `--data-dir`).  The `.yaml` extension will be added if
-    *FILE* lacks an extension. See the section [Defaults files]
-    for more information on the file format. Settings from the
-    defaults file may be overridden or extended by subsequent
-    options on the command line.
+    (see `--data-dir`). If *FILE* lacks an extension, pandoc will
+    also try adding the `.yaml` extension if *FILE* is not found.
+    See the section [Defaults files] for more information on the
+    file format. Settings from the defaults file may be
+    overridden or extended by subsequent options on the command
+    line.
 
 `--bash-completion`
 
diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/App/Opt.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/App/Opt.hs
index f95ba2a44..8b0f805f7 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/App/Opt.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/App/Opt.hs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import Control.Monad.Except (throwError)
 import Control.Monad.Trans (MonadIO, liftIO, lift)
 import Control.Monad ((>=>), foldM)
 import Control.Monad.State.Strict (StateT, modify, gets)
-import System.FilePath ( addExtension, (</>), takeExtension, takeDirectory )
+import System.FilePath ( (<.>), (</>), takeDirectory )
 import System.Directory ( canonicalizePath )
 import Data.Char (toLower, isSpace)
 import Data.Maybe (fromMaybe)
@@ -891,19 +891,18 @@ fullDefaultsPath :: (PandocMonad m, MonadIO m)
                  -> FilePath
                  -> m FilePath
 fullDefaultsPath dataDir file = do
-  let fp = if null (takeExtension file)
-              then addExtension file "yaml"
-              else file
   defaultDataDir <- liftIO defaultUserDataDir
-  let defaultFp = fromMaybe defaultDataDir dataDir </> "defaults" </> fp
-  fpExists <- fileExists fp
-  if fpExists
-     then return fp
-     else do
-       defaultFpExists <- fileExists defaultFp
-       if defaultFpExists
-          then return defaultFp
-          else return fp
+  let ddir = fromMaybe defaultDataDir dataDir </> "defaults"
+  let findFile [] = return file
+      findFile (fp:fps) = do
+        fpExists <- fileExists fp
+        if fpExists
+           then return fp
+           else findFile fps
+  findFile [file,
+            file <.> "yaml",
+            ddir </> file,
+            ddir </> file <.> "yaml"]
 
 -- | In a list of lists, append another list in front of every list which
 -- starts with specific element.