diff --git a/src/backend/catalog/heap.c b/src/backend/catalog/heap.c
index ea985a635d..d22bb77a50 100644
--- a/src/backend/catalog/heap.c
+++ b/src/backend/catalog/heap.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/catalog/heap.c,v 1.324 2007/10/12 18:55:11 tgl Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/catalog/heap.c,v 1.325 2007/10/29 19:40:39 tgl Exp $
  *
  *
  * INTERFACE ROUTINES
@@ -1722,6 +1722,21 @@ AddRelationRawConstraints(Relation rel,
 						   atp->atttypid, atp->atttypmod,
 						   NameStr(atp->attname));
 
+		/*
+		 * If the expression is just a NULL constant, we do not bother
+		 * to make an explicit pg_attrdef entry, since the default behavior
+		 * is equivalent.
+		 *
+		 * Note a nonobvious property of this test: if the column is of a
+		 * domain type, what we'll get is not a bare null Const but a
+		 * CoerceToDomain expr, so we will not discard the default.  This is
+		 * critical because the column default needs to be retained to
+		 * override any default that the domain might have.
+		 */
+		if (expr == NULL ||
+			(IsA(expr, Const) && ((Const *) expr)->constisnull))
+			continue;
+
 		StoreAttrDefault(rel, colDef->attnum, nodeToString(expr));
 
 		cooked = (CookedConstraint *) palloc(sizeof(CookedConstraint));
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/typecmds.c b/src/backend/commands/typecmds.c
index 75a8b7530e..1f58d989f2 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/typecmds.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/typecmds.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/commands/typecmds.c,v 1.108 2007/09/29 17:18:58 tgl Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/commands/typecmds.c,v 1.109 2007/10/29 19:40:39 tgl Exp $
  *
  * DESCRIPTION
  *	  The "DefineFoo" routines take the parse tree and pick out the
@@ -765,20 +765,40 @@ DefineDomain(CreateDomainStmt *stmt)
 											  domainName);
 
 					/*
-					 * Expression must be stored as a nodeToString result, but
-					 * we also require a valid textual representation (mainly
-					 * to make life easier for pg_dump).
+					 * If the expression is just a NULL constant, we treat
+					 * it like not having a default.
+					 *
+					 * Note that if the basetype is another domain, we'll see
+					 * a CoerceToDomain expr here and not discard the default.
+					 * This is critical because the domain default needs to be
+					 * retained to override any default that the base domain
+					 * might have.
 					 */
-					defaultValue =
-						deparse_expression(defaultExpr,
-										   deparse_context_for(domainName,
-															   InvalidOid),
-										   false, false);
-					defaultValueBin = nodeToString(defaultExpr);
+					if (defaultExpr == NULL ||
+						(IsA(defaultExpr, Const) &&
+						 ((Const *) defaultExpr)->constisnull))
+					{
+						defaultValue = NULL;
+						defaultValueBin = NULL;
+					}
+					else
+					{
+						/*
+						 * Expression must be stored as a nodeToString result,
+						 * but we also require a valid textual representation
+						 * (mainly to make life easier for pg_dump).
+						 */
+						defaultValue =
+							deparse_expression(defaultExpr,
+											   deparse_context_for(domainName,
+																   InvalidOid),
+											   false, false);
+						defaultValueBin = nodeToString(defaultExpr);
+					}
 				}
 				else
 				{
-					/* DEFAULT NULL is same as not having a default */
+					/* No default (can this still happen?) */
 					defaultValue = NULL;
 					defaultValueBin = NULL;
 				}
@@ -1443,7 +1463,7 @@ AlterDomainDefault(List *names, Node *defaultRaw)
 	MemSet(new_record_nulls, ' ', sizeof(new_record_nulls));
 	MemSet(new_record_repl, ' ', sizeof(new_record_repl));
 
-	/* Store the new default, if null then skip this step */
+	/* Store the new default into the tuple */
 	if (defaultRaw)
 	{
 		/* Create a dummy ParseState for transformExpr */
@@ -1459,30 +1479,46 @@ AlterDomainDefault(List *names, Node *defaultRaw)
 								  NameStr(typTup->typname));
 
 		/*
-		 * Expression must be stored as a nodeToString result, but we also
-		 * require a valid textual representation (mainly to make life easier
-		 * for pg_dump).
+		 * If the expression is just a NULL constant, we treat the command
+		 * like ALTER ... DROP DEFAULT.  (But see note for same test in
+		 * DefineDomain.)
 		 */
-		defaultValue = deparse_expression(defaultExpr,
+		if (defaultExpr == NULL ||
+			(IsA(defaultExpr, Const) && ((Const *) defaultExpr)->constisnull))
+		{
+			/* Default is NULL, drop it */
+			new_record_nulls[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = 'n';
+			new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = 'r';
+			new_record_nulls[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = 'n';
+			new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = 'r';
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			/*
+			 * Expression must be stored as a nodeToString result, but we also
+			 * require a valid textual representation (mainly to make life
+			 * easier for pg_dump).
+			 */
+			defaultValue = deparse_expression(defaultExpr,
 								deparse_context_for(NameStr(typTup->typname),
 													InvalidOid),
 										  false, false);
 
-		/*
-		 * Form an updated tuple with the new default and write it back.
-		 */
-		new_record[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = DirectFunctionCall1(textin,
-															 CStringGetDatum(
-												 nodeToString(defaultExpr)));
+			/*
+			 * Form an updated tuple with the new default and write it back.
+			 */
+			new_record[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = DirectFunctionCall1(textin,
+								CStringGetDatum(nodeToString(defaultExpr)));
 
-		new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = 'r';
-		new_record[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = DirectFunctionCall1(textin,
+			new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = 'r';
+			new_record[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = DirectFunctionCall1(textin,
 											  CStringGetDatum(defaultValue));
-		new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = 'r';
+			new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = 'r';
+		}
 	}
 	else
-		/* Default is NULL, drop it */
 	{
+		/* ALTER ... DROP DEFAULT */
 		new_record_nulls[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = 'n';
 		new_record_repl[Anum_pg_type_typdefaultbin - 1] = 'r';
 		new_record_nulls[Anum_pg_type_typdefault - 1] = 'n';
diff --git a/src/backend/parser/gram.y b/src/backend/parser/gram.y
index 1452fe7ff2..f9f7a49a31 100644
--- a/src/backend/parser/gram.y
+++ b/src/backend/parser/gram.y
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/parser/gram.y,v 2.603 2007/09/24 01:29:28 adunstan Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/parser/gram.y,v 2.604 2007/10/29 19:40:39 tgl Exp $
  *
  * HISTORY
  *	  AUTHOR			DATE			MAJOR EVENT
@@ -1685,14 +1685,7 @@ alter_rel_cmd:
 		;
 
 alter_column_default:
-			SET DEFAULT a_expr
-				{
-					/* Treat SET DEFAULT NULL the same as DROP DEFAULT */
-					if (exprIsNullConstant($3))
-						$$ = NULL;
-					else
-						$$ = $3;
-				}
+			SET DEFAULT a_expr			{ $$ = $3; }
 			| DROP DEFAULT				{ $$ = NULL; }
 		;
 
@@ -2080,15 +2073,7 @@ ColConstraintElem:
 					Constraint *n = makeNode(Constraint);
 					n->contype = CONSTR_DEFAULT;
 					n->name = NULL;
-					if (exprIsNullConstant($2))
-					{
-						/* DEFAULT NULL should be reported as empty expr */
-						n->raw_expr = NULL;
-					}
-					else
-					{
-						n->raw_expr = $2;
-					}
+					n->raw_expr = $2;
 					n->cooked_expr = NULL;
 					n->keys = NULL;
 					n->indexspace = NULL;
@@ -9763,23 +9748,6 @@ parser_init(void)
 	QueryIsRule = FALSE;
 }
 
-/* exprIsNullConstant()
- * Test whether an a_expr is a plain NULL constant or not.
- */
-bool
-exprIsNullConstant(Node *arg)
-{
-	if (arg && IsA(arg, A_Const))
-	{
-		A_Const *con = (A_Const *) arg;
-
-		if (con->val.type == T_Null &&
-			con->typename == NULL)
-			return TRUE;
-	}
-	return FALSE;
-}
-
 /* doNegate()
  * Handle negation of a numeric constant.
  *
diff --git a/src/backend/parser/parse_expr.c b/src/backend/parser/parse_expr.c
index 754e18d687..86fddc4a7a 100644
--- a/src/backend/parser/parse_expr.c
+++ b/src/backend/parser/parse_expr.c
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/parser/parse_expr.c,v 1.221 2007/06/23 22:12:51 tgl Exp $
+ *	  $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/parser/parse_expr.c,v 1.222 2007/10/29 19:40:40 tgl Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -606,6 +606,21 @@ transformParamRef(ParseState *pstate, ParamRef *pref)
 	return (Node *) param;
 }
 
+/* Test whether an a_expr is a plain NULL constant or not */
+static bool
+exprIsNullConstant(Node *arg)
+{
+	if (arg && IsA(arg, A_Const))
+	{
+		A_Const *con = (A_Const *) arg;
+
+		if (con->val.type == T_Null &&
+			con->typename == NULL)
+			return true;
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
 static Node *
 transformAExprOp(ParseState *pstate, A_Expr *a)
 {
diff --git a/src/backend/parser/parse_utilcmd.c b/src/backend/parser/parse_utilcmd.c
index 54e7dfdb16..287e82ddee 100644
--- a/src/backend/parser/parse_utilcmd.c
+++ b/src/backend/parser/parse_utilcmd.c
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
  * Portions Copyright (c) 1996-2007, PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  * Portions Copyright (c) 1994, Regents of the University of California
  *
- *	$PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/parser/parse_utilcmd.c,v 2.3 2007/08/27 03:36:08 tgl Exp $
+ *	$PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/backend/parser/parse_utilcmd.c,v 2.4 2007/10/29 19:40:40 tgl Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -440,7 +440,6 @@ transformColumnDefinition(ParseState *pstate, CreateStmtContext *cxt,
 							(errcode(ERRCODE_SYNTAX_ERROR),
 							 errmsg("multiple default values specified for column \"%s\" of table \"%s\"",
 								  column->colname, cxt->relation->relname)));
-				/* Note: DEFAULT NULL maps to constraint->raw_expr == NULL */
 				column->raw_default = constraint->raw_expr;
 				Assert(constraint->cooked_expr == NULL);
 				saw_default = true;
diff --git a/src/include/parser/gramparse.h b/src/include/parser/gramparse.h
index ee6be87c02..34f47a9bea 100644
--- a/src/include/parser/gramparse.h
+++ b/src/include/parser/gramparse.h
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  * Portions Copyright (c) 1996-2007, PostgreSQL Global Development Group
  * Portions Copyright (c) 1994, Regents of the University of California
  *
- * $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/include/parser/gramparse.h,v 1.38 2007/01/05 22:19:56 momjian Exp $
+ * $PostgreSQL: pgsql/src/include/parser/gramparse.h,v 1.39 2007/10/29 19:40:40 tgl Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -54,6 +54,5 @@ extern void parser_init(void);
 extern int	base_yyparse(void);
 extern List *SystemFuncName(char *name);
 extern TypeName *SystemTypeName(char *name);
-extern bool exprIsNullConstant(Node *arg);
 
 #endif   /* GRAMPARSE_H */
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/domain.out b/src/test/regress/expected/domain.out
index c7d5b50334..b951ce8caa 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/domain.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/domain.out
@@ -205,7 +205,15 @@ create table defaulttest
             , col8 ddef5
             );
 NOTICE:  CREATE TABLE / PRIMARY KEY will create implicit index "defaulttest_pkey" for table "defaulttest"
-insert into defaulttest default values;
+insert into defaulttest(col4) values(0); -- fails, col5 defaults to null
+ERROR:  null value in column "col5" violates not-null constraint
+alter table defaulttest alter column col5 drop default;
+insert into defaulttest default values; -- succeeds, inserts domain default
+-- We used to treat SET DEFAULT NULL as equivalent to DROP DEFAULT; wrong
+alter table defaulttest alter column col5 set default null;
+insert into defaulttest(col4) values(0); -- fails
+ERROR:  null value in column "col5" violates not-null constraint
+alter table defaulttest alter column col5 drop default;
 insert into defaulttest default values;
 insert into defaulttest default values;
 -- Test defaults with copy
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/domain.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/domain.sql
index 7da9971991..7a4ec383d2 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/domain.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/domain.sql
@@ -168,7 +168,13 @@ create table defaulttest
             , col7 ddef4 DEFAULT 8000
             , col8 ddef5
             );
-insert into defaulttest default values;
+insert into defaulttest(col4) values(0); -- fails, col5 defaults to null
+alter table defaulttest alter column col5 drop default;
+insert into defaulttest default values; -- succeeds, inserts domain default
+-- We used to treat SET DEFAULT NULL as equivalent to DROP DEFAULT; wrong
+alter table defaulttest alter column col5 set default null;
+insert into defaulttest(col4) values(0); -- fails
+alter table defaulttest alter column col5 drop default;
 insert into defaulttest default values;
 insert into defaulttest default values;