diff --git a/docs/python_api/renderdoc/capturing.rst b/docs/python_api/renderdoc/capturing.rst
index 0d5d5ce0e..944eb1c50 100644
--- a/docs/python_api/renderdoc/capturing.rst
+++ b/docs/python_api/renderdoc/capturing.rst
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ Execution & Injection
 .. autoclass:: renderdoc.CaptureOptions
   :members:
   
-.. autofunction:: renderdoc.GetDefaultCaptureOptions
-
 .. autoclass:: renderdoc.EnvironmentModification
   :members:
 
diff --git a/docs/verify-docstrings.py b/docs/verify-docstrings.py
index 25f0b45c1..34efe9973 100644
--- a/docs/verify-docstrings.py
+++ b/docs/verify-docstrings.py
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ for mod_name in check_mods:
             continue
 
         # skip some functions that have special bindings and won't be easily found
-        if objname in ['CreateRemoteServerConnection', 'DumpObject', 'GetDefaultCaptureOptions', 'GetSupportedDeviceProtocols']:
+        if objname in ['CreateRemoteServerConnection', 'DumpObject', 'GetSupportedDeviceProtocols']:
             if args.verbose:
                 print("Skipping {}".format(objname))
             continue
diff --git a/qrenderdoc/Code/Interface/QRDInterface.cpp b/qrenderdoc/Code/Interface/QRDInterface.cpp
index 557a7056f..31dffa897 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/Code/Interface/QRDInterface.cpp
+++ b/qrenderdoc/Code/Interface/QRDInterface.cpp
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@ CaptureSettings::CaptureSettings()
   autoStart = false;
   queuedFrameCap = 0;
   numQueuedFrames = 0;
-  RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions(&options);
 }
 
 CaptureSettings::operator QVariant() const
diff --git a/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/qrenderdoc_stub.cpp b/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/qrenderdoc_stub.cpp
index 88b9e6c21..4bb384e29 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/qrenderdoc_stub.cpp
+++ b/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/qrenderdoc_stub.cpp
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ CaptureSettings::CaptureSettings()
   autoStart = false;
   queuedFrameCap = 0;
   numQueuedFrames = 0;
-  RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions(&options);
 }
 
 rdcstr ConfigFilePath(const rdcstr &filename)
diff --git a/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/renderdoc.i b/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/renderdoc.i
index ed5f67b18..00ae2854c 100644
--- a/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/renderdoc.i
+++ b/qrenderdoc/Code/pyrenderdoc/renderdoc.i
@@ -132,13 +132,7 @@ VA_IGNORE_REST_OF_FILE
 %ignore rdhalf;
 %ignore bytebuf;
 
-// special handling for RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions to transform output parameter to a return value
-%typemap(in, numinputs=0) CaptureOptions *defaultOpts { $1 = new CaptureOptions; }
-%typemap(argout) CaptureOptions *defaultOpts {
-  $result = SWIG_NewPointerObj($1, $descriptor(struct CaptureOptions*), SWIG_POINTER_OWN);
-}
-
-// same for RENDERDOC_GetSupportedDeviceProtocols
+// special handling for RENDERDOC_GetSupportedDeviceProtocols to transform output parameter to a return value
 %typemap(in, numinputs=0) rdcarray<rdcstr> *supportedProtocols { $1 = new rdcarray<rdcstr>; }
 %typemap(argout) rdcarray<rdcstr> *supportedProtocols {
   $result = ConvertToPy(*$1);
diff --git a/renderdoc/api/replay/capture_options.h b/renderdoc/api/replay/capture_options.h
index 05303d080..7d39b6024 100644
--- a/renderdoc/api/replay/capture_options.h
+++ b/renderdoc/api/replay/capture_options.h
@@ -38,11 +38,24 @@ initialisation time that the user can enable or disable at will.
 )");
 struct CaptureOptions
 {
-// for convenience, don't export the constructor but allow it within the module
-// for constructing defaults
-#ifdef RENDERDOC_EXPORTS
-  CaptureOptions();
-#endif
+  DOCUMENT("");
+  CaptureOptions()
+  {
+    // since we're reading from all bytes even padding etc in EncodeAsString, memset to 0
+    memset(this, 0, sizeof(CaptureOptions));
+    allowVSync = true;
+    allowFullscreen = true;
+    apiValidation = false;
+    captureCallstacks = false;
+    captureCallstacksOnlyActions = false;
+    delayForDebugger = 0;
+    verifyBufferAccess = false;
+    hookIntoChildren = false;
+    refAllResources = false;
+    captureAllCmdLists = false;
+    debugOutputMute = true;
+    softMemoryLimit = 0;
+  }
 
   DOCUMENT(R"(Encode the current options to a string suitable for passing around between processes.
 
diff --git a/renderdoc/api/replay/renderdoc_replay.h b/renderdoc/api/replay/renderdoc_replay.h
index 10214031a..747a6260c 100644
--- a/renderdoc/api/replay/renderdoc_replay.h
+++ b/renderdoc/api/replay/renderdoc_replay.h
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 
 #define RENDERDOC_AllocArrayMem RDOCSELF_AllocArrayMem
 #define RENDERDOC_FreeArrayMem RDOCSELF_FreeArrayMem
-#define RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions RDOCSELF_GetDefaultCaptureOptions
 #define RENDERDOC_NeedVulkanLayerRegistration RDOCSELF_NeedVulkanLayerRegistration
 #define RENDERDOC_UpdateVulkanLayerRegistration RDOCSELF_UpdateVulkanLayerRegistration
 #define RENDERDOC_ExecuteAndInject RDOCSELF_ExecuteAndInject
@@ -2034,14 +2033,6 @@ extern "C" RENDERDOC_API void RENDERDOC_CC RENDERDOC_BecomeRemoteServer(
 // Injection/execution capture functions.
 //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-DOCUMENT(R"(Retrieve the default and recommended set of capture options.
-
-:return: The default capture options.
-:rtype: CaptureOptions
-)");
-extern "C" RENDERDOC_API void RENDERDOC_CC
-RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions(CaptureOptions *defaultOpts);
-
 DOCUMENT(R"(Begin injecting speculatively into all new processes started on the system. Where
 supported by platform, configuration, and setup begin injecting speculatively into all new processes
 started on the system.
diff --git a/renderdoc/rdocself.version b/renderdoc/rdocself.version
index dce1cd79e..a391433e4 100644
--- a/renderdoc/rdocself.version
+++ b/renderdoc/rdocself.version
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
                 RENDERDOC_GetAPI;
                 RDOCSELF_AllocArrayMem;
                 RDOCSELF_FreeArrayMem;
-                RDOCSELF_GetDefaultCaptureOptions;
                 RDOCSELF_NeedVulkanLayerRegistration;
                 RDOCSELF_UpdateVulkanLayerRegistration;
                 RDOCSELF_ExecuteAndInject;
diff --git a/renderdoc/replay/capture_options.cpp b/renderdoc/replay/capture_options.cpp
index 67aeaec26..2411be162 100644
--- a/renderdoc/replay/capture_options.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/replay/capture_options.cpp
@@ -175,24 +175,6 @@ float RENDERDOC_CC GetCaptureOptionF32(RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt)
   return -FLT_MAX;
 }
 
-CaptureOptions::CaptureOptions()
-{
-  // since we're reading from all bytes even padding etc, memset to 0
-  RDCEraseEl(*this);
-  allowVSync = true;
-  allowFullscreen = true;
-  apiValidation = false;
-  captureCallstacks = false;
-  captureCallstacksOnlyActions = false;
-  delayForDebugger = 0;
-  verifyBufferAccess = false;
-  hookIntoChildren = false;
-  refAllResources = false;
-  captureAllCmdLists = false;
-  debugOutputMute = true;
-  softMemoryLimit = 0;
-}
-
 #if ENABLED(ENABLE_UNIT_TESTS)
 
 #undef None
diff --git a/renderdoc/replay/entry_points.cpp b/renderdoc/replay/entry_points.cpp
index 5ca99ee89..0520d3b27 100644
--- a/renderdoc/replay/entry_points.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/replay/entry_points.cpp
@@ -377,11 +377,6 @@ RENDERDOC_ExecuteAndInject(const rdcstr &app, const rdcstr &workingDir, const rd
   return ret;
 }
 
-extern "C" RENDERDOC_API void RENDERDOC_CC RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions(CaptureOptions *opts)
-{
-  *opts = CaptureOptions();
-}
-
 extern "C" RENDERDOC_API ResultDetails RENDERDOC_CC RENDERDOC_StartGlobalHook(
     const rdcstr &pathmatch, const rdcstr &capturefile, const CaptureOptions &opts)
 {
diff --git a/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.cpp b/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.cpp
index a65cbb0aa..5d68737fd 100644
--- a/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.cpp
+++ b/renderdoccmd/renderdoccmd.cpp
@@ -1657,7 +1657,6 @@ int renderdoccmd(GlobalEnvironment &env, std::vector<std::string> &argv)
     cmd.parse_check(argv, true);
 
     CaptureOptions opts;
-    RENDERDOC_GetDefaultCaptureOptions(&opts);
 
     if(it->second->IsCaptureCommand())
     {
diff --git a/util/test/rdtest/capture.py b/util/test/rdtest/capture.py
index b33897fb9..0e68897c4 100644
--- a/util/test/rdtest/capture.py
+++ b/util/test/rdtest/capture.py
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ class TargetControl():
 
 def run_executable(exe: str, cmdline: str,
                    workdir="", envmods=None, cappath=None,
-                   opts=rd.GetDefaultCaptureOptions()):
+                   opts=None):
     """
     Runs an executable with RenderDoc injected, and returns the control ident.
 
@@ -130,6 +130,8 @@ def run_executable(exe: str, cmdline: str,
     """
     if envmods is None:
         envmods = []
+    if opts is None:
+        opts = rd.CaptureOptions()
     if cappath is None:
         cappath = util.get_tmp_path('capture')
 
@@ -150,7 +152,7 @@ def run_executable(exe: str, cmdline: str,
     return res.ident
 
 
-def run_and_capture(exe: str, cmdline: str, frame: int, *, frame_count=1, captures_expected=None, capture_name=None, opts=rd.GetDefaultCaptureOptions(),
+def run_and_capture(exe: str, cmdline: str, frame: int, *, frame_count=1, captures_expected=None, capture_name=None, opts=None,
                     timeout=None, logfile=None):
     """
     Helper function to run an executable with a command line, capture a particular frame, and exit.
@@ -173,6 +175,9 @@ def run_and_capture(exe: str, cmdline: str, frame: int, *, frame_count=1, captur
     if capture_name is None:
         capture_name = 'capture'
 
+    if opts is None:
+        opts = rd.CaptureOptions()
+
     if captures_expected is None:
         captures_expected = frame_count