diff --git a/lisp/ChangeLog b/lisp/ChangeLog
index 72441a20147..83f8a0e1cf0 100644
--- a/lisp/ChangeLog
+++ b/lisp/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 2004-06-03  Miles Bader  <miles@gnu.org>
 
+	* subr.el (read-number): Use canonical format for default in prompt.
+
 	* minibuf-eldef.el (minibuffer-default-in-prompt-regexps): Add
 	regexp for " [...]" style defaults.
 
diff --git a/lisp/subr.el b/lisp/subr.el
index b90efd46ff0..e4e38d906c6 100644
--- a/lisp/subr.el
+++ b/lisp/subr.el
@@ -1335,9 +1335,11 @@ Optional DEFAULT is a default password to use instead of empty input."
   (let ((n nil))
     (when default
       (setq prompt
-	    (if (string-match "\\(\\):[^:]*" prompt)
-		(replace-match (format " [%s]" default) t t prompt 1)
-	      (concat prompt (format " [%s] " default)))))
+	    (if (string-match "\\(\\):[ \t]*\\'" prompt)
+		(replace-match (format " (default %s)" default) t t prompt 1)
+	      (replace-regexp-in-string "[ \t]*\\'"
+					(format " (default %s) " default)
+					prompt t t)))) 
     (while
 	(progn
 	  (let ((str (read-from-minibuffer prompt nil nil nil nil