diff --git a/src/htmltojsx.js b/src/htmltojsx.js
index 9639256..428945d 100644
--- a/src/htmltojsx.js
+++ b/src/htmltojsx.js
@@ -367,8 +367,8 @@ HTMLtoJSX.prototype = {
     }
 
     if (tagName === 'textarea') {
-      // Hax: textareas need their inner text moved to a "value" attribute.
-      attributes.push('value={' + JSON.stringify(node.value) + '}');
+      // Hax: textareas need their inner text moved to a "defaultValue" attribute.
+      attributes.push('defaultValue={' + JSON.stringify(node.value) + '}');
     }
     if (tagName === 'pre') {
       this._inPreTag = true;
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ HTMLtoJSX.prototype = {
    */
   _isSelfClosing: function(node) {
     // If it has children, it's not self-closing
-    // Exception: All children of a textarea are moved to a "value" attribute.
+    // Exception: All children of a textarea are moved to a "defaultValue" attribute.
     return !node.firstChild || node.tagName.toLowerCase() === 'textarea';
   },
 
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ HTMLtoJSX.prototype = {
     var parentTag = node.parentNode && node.parentNode.tagName.toLowerCase();
     if (parentTag === 'textarea') {
       // Ignore text content of textareas, as it will have already been moved
-      // to a "value" attribute.
+      // to a "defaultValue" attribute.
       return;
     }
 
diff --git a/test/htmltojsx-test.js b/test/htmltojsx-test.js
index d9db064..275c072 100644
--- a/test/htmltojsx-test.js
+++ b/test/htmltojsx-test.js
@@ -235,10 +235,10 @@ describe('htmltojsx', function() {
   });
 
   describe('special tags', function() {
-    it('should use "value" for textareas', function() {
+    it('should use "defaultValue" for textareas', function() {
       var converter = new HTMLtoJSX({ createClass: false });
       expect(converter.convert('<textarea>hello\nworld</textarea>').trim())
-        .toBe('<textarea value={"hello\\nworld"} />');
+        .toBe('<textarea defaultValue={"hello\\nworld"} />');
     });
 
     it('should do magic voodoo for <pre>', function() {