diff --git a/beets/config_default.yaml b/beets/config_default.yaml
index 45f13efef6..b7e6b1e2b0 100644
--- a/beets/config_default.yaml
+++ b/beets/config_default.yaml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ replace:
     '\.$': _
     '\s+$': ''
     '^\s+': ''
+    '^-': _
 path_sep_replace: _
 asciify_paths: false
 art_filename: cover
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index ddb6ec603c..f153ab4101 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ New features:
 
 Fixes:
 
+* :ref:`replace`: Added default replace for - to _. :bug:`549`
 * :doc:`/plugins/absubmit`: Do not filter for supported formats. :bug:`2471`
 * :doc:`/plugins/mpdupdate`: Fix Python 3 compatibility. :bug:`2381`
 * :doc:`/plugins/replaygain`: Fix Python 3 compatibility in the ``bs1770gain``
diff --git a/docs/reference/config.rst b/docs/reference/config.rst
index 7fb7c96c4f..82c11238a1 100644
--- a/docs/reference/config.rst
+++ b/docs/reference/config.rst
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ unexpected behavior on all popular platforms::
         '\.$': _
         '\s+$': ''
         '^\s+': ''
+        '^-': _
 
 These substitutions remove forward and back slashes, leading dots, and
 control characters—all of which is a good idea on any OS. The fourth line