diff --git a/doc/help/commands.asciidoc b/doc/help/commands.asciidoc
index 12215e3b2..a1c5e9e45 100644
--- a/doc/help/commands.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/help/commands.asciidoc
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ Syntax: +:zoom ['zoom']+
 
 Set the zoom level for the current tab.
 
-The zoom can be given as argument or as [count]. If neither of both is given, the zoom is set to 100%.
+The zoom can be given as argument or as [count]. If neither of both is given, the zoom is set to the default zoom.
 
 ==== positional arguments
 * +'zoom'+: The zoom percentage to set.
diff --git a/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py b/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
index 9f0792629..0a6e280fc 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/browser/commands.py
@@ -619,14 +619,15 @@ class CommandDispatcher:
         """Set the zoom level for the current tab.
 
         The zoom can be given as argument or as [count]. If neither of both is
-        given, the zoom is set to 100%.
+        given, the zoom is set to the default zoom.
 
         Args:
             zoom: The zoom percentage to set.
             count: The zoom percentage to set.
         """
         try:
-            level = cmdutils.arg_or_count(zoom, count, default=100)
+            default = config.get('ui', 'default-zoom')
+            level = cmdutils.arg_or_count(zoom, count, default=default)
         except ValueError as e:
             raise cmdexc.CommandError(e)
         tab = self._current_widget()