diff --git a/doc/help/settings.asciidoc b/doc/help/settings.asciidoc
index d1fcf2822..f2a2ba5da 100644
--- a/doc/help/settings.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/help/settings.asciidoc
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@
 |<<tabs.new_position.related,tabs.new_position.related>>|Position of new tabs opened from another tab.
 |<<tabs.new_position.unrelated,tabs.new_position.unrelated>>|Position of new tabs which aren't opened from another tab.
 |<<tabs.padding,tabs.padding>>|Padding (in pixels) around text for tabs.
-|<<tabs.persist_mode_on_change,tabs.persist_mode_on_change>>|When switching tabs, retain the current mode.
+|<<tabs.persist_mode_on_change,tabs.persist_mode_on_change>>|When switching tabs, stay in insert/passthrough mode.
 |<<tabs.pinned.shrink,tabs.pinned.shrink>>|Shrink pinned tabs down to their contents.
 |<<tabs.position,tabs.position>>|Position of the tab bar.
 |<<tabs.select_on_remove,tabs.select_on_remove>>|Which tab to select when the focused tab is removed.
@@ -2802,7 +2802,7 @@ Default:
 
 [[tabs.persist_mode_on_change]]
 === tabs.persist_mode_on_change
-When switching tabs, retain the current mode.
+When switching tabs, stay in insert/passthrough mode.
 
 Type: <<types,Bool>>
 
diff --git a/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml b/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml
index 56a0801c4..822cef76b 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml
+++ b/qutebrowser/config/configdata.yml
@@ -1238,7 +1238,7 @@ tabs.padding:
 tabs.persist_mode_on_change:
   default: false
   type: Bool
-  desc: When switching tabs, retain the current mode.
+  desc: When switching tabs, stay in insert/passthrough mode.
 
 tabs.position:
   default: top
diff --git a/qutebrowser/mainwindow/tabbedbrowser.py b/qutebrowser/mainwindow/tabbedbrowser.py
index 9480adc5f..c78c0eced 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/mainwindow/tabbedbrowser.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/mainwindow/tabbedbrowser.py
@@ -652,11 +652,14 @@ class TabbedBrowser(tabwidget.TabWidget):
 
         log.modes.debug("Current tab changed, focusing {!r}".format(tab))
         tab.setFocus()
+
+        modes_to_leave = [usertypes.KeyMode.hint, usertypes.KeyMode.caret]
         if not config.val.tabs.persist_mode_on_change:
-            for mode in [usertypes.KeyMode.hint, usertypes.KeyMode.insert,
-                         usertypes.KeyMode.caret,
-                         usertypes.KeyMode.passthrough]:
-                modeman.leave(self._win_id, mode, 'tab changed', maybe=True)
+            modes_to_leave += [usertypes.KeyMode.insert,
+                               usertypes.KeyMode.passthrough]
+        for mode in modes_to_leave:
+            modeman.leave(self._win_id, mode, 'tab changed', maybe=True)
+
         if self._now_focused is not None:
             objreg.register('last-focused-tab', self._now_focused, update=True,
                             scope='window', window=self._win_id)