diff --git a/lib/Cake/View/View.php b/lib/Cake/View/View.php
index 9e0bafb91..1b7243928 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/View/View.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/View/View.php
@@ -636,11 +636,11 @@ class View extends Object {
  * empty or undefined '' will be returned.
  *
  * @param string $name Name of the block
- * @return The block content or '' if the block does not exist.
+ * @return string The block content or $default if the block does not exist.
  * @see ViewBlock::get()
  */
-	public function fetch($name) {
-		return $this->Blocks->get($name);
+	public function fetch($name, $default = '') {
+		return $this->Blocks->get($name, $default);
 	}
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/Cake/View/ViewBlock.php b/lib/Cake/View/ViewBlock.php
index 98b16d7fe..baf08ad21 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/View/ViewBlock.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/View/ViewBlock.php
@@ -119,11 +119,11 @@ class ViewBlock {
  * Get the content for a block.
  *
  * @param string $name Name of the block
- * @return The block content or '' if the block does not exist.
+ * @return string The block content or $default if the block does not exist.
  */
-	public function get($name) {
+	public function get($name, $default = '') {
 		if (!isset($this->_blocks[$name])) {
-			return '';
+			return $default;
 		}
 		return $this->_blocks[$name];
 	}