diff --git a/lib/TabList.js b/lib/TabList.js
index f383483..86fe1a2 100644
--- a/lib/TabList.js
+++ b/lib/TabList.js
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@ export default class TabList extends React.PureComponent {
 
   constructor(props) {
     super(props)
-
     // When the user presses a Tab, the Decorator data is stored in here and
     // retrieved when the Tab visually becomes active.
     // We need to temporarily store it for the controlled component because we
@@ -53,7 +52,7 @@ export default class TabList extends React.PureComponent {
     this.isControlled = props.activeTab != null
 
     this.state = {
-      activeTab: this.isControlled ? props.activeTab : props.tabs[0].key
+      activeTab: this.isControlled ? props.activeTab : props.tabs[props.defaultTabIndex || 0].key
     }
   }