diff --git a/Lib/string.py b/Lib/string.py
index 8d6d62263ba..5eb56974e9a 100644
--- a/Lib/string.py
+++ b/Lib/string.py
@@ -97,13 +97,13 @@ def rstrip(s):
 
 # Split a string into a list of space/tab-separated words
 # NB: split(s) is NOT the same as splitfields(s, ' ')!
-def split(s, sep=None, maxsplit=0):
+def split(s, sep=None, maxsplit=-1):
     """split(s [,sep [,maxsplit]]) -> list of strings
 
     Return a list of the words in the string s, using sep as the
-    delimiter string.  If maxsplit is nonzero, splits into at most
+    delimiter string.  If maxsplit is given, splits into at most
     maxsplit words.  If sep is not specified, any whitespace string
-    is a separator.  Maxsplit defaults to 0.
+    is a separator.
 
     (split and splitfields are synonymous)
 
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ def maketrans(fromstr, tostr):
     return joinfields(L, "")
 
 # Substring replacement (global)
-def replace(s, old, new, maxsplit=0):
+def replace(s, old, new, maxsplit=-1):
     """replace (str, old, new[, maxsplit]) -> string
 
     Return a copy of string str with all occurrences of substring