diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Add.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Add.hs
index 3bdf9c6cc..5220e74d4 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Add.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Add.hs
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ getTransaction j opts args defaultDate = do
          hPutStr stderr $ concatMap (\(n,t) -> printf "[%3d%%] %s" (round $ n*100 :: Int) (show t)) $ take 3 historymatches)
   getpostingsandvalidate
 
+-- fragile
 -- | Read postings from the command line until . is entered, using any
 -- provided historical postings and the journal context to guess defaults.
 getPostings :: JournalContext -> (AccountName -> Bool) -> Maybe [Posting] -> [Posting] -> InputT IO [Posting]
@@ -111,16 +112,22 @@ getPostings ctx accept historicalps enteredps = do
                      | n <= length ps = Just $ ps !! (n-1)
                      | otherwise = Nothing
                      where Just ps = historicalps'
-          defaultamountstr | isJust bestmatch' = Just $ showMixedAmountWithPrecision maxprecision $ pamount $ fromJust bestmatch'
+          defaultamountstr | isJust bestmatch' = Just historicalamountstr
                            | n > 1             = Just balancingamountstr
                            | otherwise         = Nothing
-              where balancingamountstr = showMixedAmountWithPrecision maxprecision $ negate $ sumMixedAmountsPreservingHighestPrecision $ map pamount enteredrealps
+              where
+                historicalamountstr = showMixedAmountWithPrecision maxprecision $ pamount $ fromJust bestmatch'
+                balancingamountstr  = showMixedAmountWithPrecision maxprecision $ negate $ sumMixedAmountsPreservingHighestPrecision $ map pamount enteredrealps
       amountstr <- askFor (printf "amount  %d" n) defaultamountstr validateamount
-      let amount = setMixedAmountPrecision maxprecision $ fromparse $ runParser (someamount <|> return missingamt) ctx "" amountstr
+      let amount  = fromparse $ runParser (someamount <|> return missingamt) ctx     "" amountstr
+          amount' = fromparse $ runParser (someamount <|> return missingamt) nullctx "" amountstr
           defaultamtused = Just (showMixedAmount amount) == defaultamountstr
           historicalps'' = if defaultamtused then historicalps' else Nothing
-          commodityadded | showMixedAmountWithPrecision maxprecision amount == amountstr = Nothing
-                         | otherwise = maybe Nothing (Just . commodity) $ headMay $ amounts amount
+          commodityadded | c == cwithnodef = Nothing
+                         | otherwise       = c
+              where c          = maybemixedamountcommodity amount
+                    cwithnodef = maybemixedamountcommodity amount'
+                    maybemixedamountcommodity = maybe Nothing (Just . commodity) . headMay . amounts
           p = nullposting{paccount=stripbrackets account,
                           pamount=amount,
                           ptype=postingtype account}
diff --git a/tests/add-bad-date-fails.test b/tests/add-bad-date-fails.test
index 07d4997b9..016ad2219 100644
--- a/tests/add-bad-date-fails.test
+++ b/tests/add-bad-date-fails.test
@@ -2,4 +2,4 @@
 bin/hledger -f nosuch.journal add
 <<<
 2009/1/32
->>>2 /date .*: date .*/
+>>> /date .*: date .*/
diff --git a/tests/add-blank-date.test b/tests/add-blank-date.test
index 10c7345a9..6e9b180b7 100644
--- a/tests/add-blank-date.test
+++ b/tests/add-blank-date.test
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 bin/hledger -f nosuch.journal add
 <<<
 
->>>2 /date .*: description/
+>>> /date .*: description/
diff --git a/tests/add-default-amount-precision.test b/tests/add-default-amount-precision.test
index 015ef0629..b4bc78718 100644
--- a/tests/add-default-amount-precision.test
+++ b/tests/add-default-amount-precision.test
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ a
 b
 0.5
 c
->>>2 /amount  3 \[-0.75\]/
+>>> /amount  3 \[-0.75\]/
diff --git a/tests/add-default-commodity.test b/tests/add-default-commodity.test
index 0735c77f1..3c9490183 100644
--- a/tests/add-default-commodity.test
+++ b/tests/add-default-commodity.test
@@ -1,15 +1,71 @@
-# add should use the (final) default commodity if any
-# disabled as add currently requires ctrl-c to terminate
+# simple add with no existing journal, no commodity entered
+ rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j; bin/hledger -f add-default-commodity-$$.j add; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
+<<<
+
+
+a
+1000.0
+b
+
+.
+>>> /^date \[.*\]: description \[\]: account 1: amount  1: account 2: amount  2 \[-1000\]: account 3: date \[.*\]: $/
 #
-#  printf 'D £1000.00\n' >add-default-commodity-$$.j; hledger -fadd-default-commodity-$$.j add; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
-# <<<
-# 2010/1/1
+# default commodity with greater precision
+ printf 'D $1000.00\n' >add-default-commodity-$$.j; hledger -fadd-default-commodity-$$.j add >/dev/null; cat add-default-commodity-$$.j; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
+<<<
 
-# a
-# 1000
-# b
-# >>>
-# 2010/01/01 y
-#     a      £1000.00
-#     b     £-1000.00
 
+a
+$1000.0
+b
+
+.
+>>> /a  +\$1000\.0/
+#
+# default commodity with less precision
+ printf 'D $1000.0\n' >add-default-commodity-$$.j; hledger -fadd-default-commodity-$$.j add >/dev/null; cat add-default-commodity-$$.j; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
+<<<
+
+
+a
+$1000.00
+b
+
+.
+>>> /a  +\$1000\.00/
+#
+# existing commodity with greater precision
+ printf '2010/1/1\n a  $1000.00\n b\n' >add-default-commodity-$$.j; hledger -fadd-default-commodity-$$.j add >/dev/null; cat add-default-commodity-$$.j; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
+<<<
+
+
+a
+$1000.0
+b
+
+.
+>>> /a  +\$1000\.0/
+#
+# existing commodity with less precision
+ printf '2010/1/1\n a  $1000.0\n b\n' >add-default-commodity-$$.j; hledger -fadd-default-commodity-$$.j add >/dev/null; cat add-default-commodity-$$.j; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
+<<<
+
+
+a
+$1000.00
+b
+
+.
+>>> /a  +\$1000\.00/
+#
+# no commodity entered, the (most recent) default commodity should be applied
+ printf 'D $1000.0\nD £1,000.00\n' >add-default-commodity-$$.j; hledger -fadd-default-commodity-$$.j add; cat add-default-commodity-$$.j; rm -f add-default-commodity-$$.j
+<<<
+2010/1/1
+
+a
+1000
+b
+
+.
+>>> /a  +£1,000.00/