diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/post.php b/wp-admin/includes/post.php
index 69facf61d..6d03db1b8 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/post.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/post.php
@@ -379,7 +379,11 @@ function get_default_post_to_edit( $post_type = 'post', $create_in_db = false )
 		$post->post_status = 'draft';
 		$post->to_ping = '';
 		$post->pinged = '';
-		$post->comment_status = get_option( 'default_comment_status' );
+		if ( 'page' == $post_type ) {
+			$post->comment_status = get_option( 'default_comment_status_page' );
+		} else {
+			$post->comment_status = get_option( 'default_comment_status' );
+		}
 		$post->ping_status = get_option( 'default_ping_status' );
 		$post->post_pingback = get_option( 'default_pingback_flag' );
 		$post->post_category = get_option( 'default_category' );
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-discussion.php b/wp-admin/options-discussion.php
index 8802f7631..d9457bbbb 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-discussion.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-discussion.php
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ include('./admin-header.php');
 <?php _e('Allow people to post comments on new articles') ?></label>
 <br />
 <small><em><?php echo '(' . __('These settings may be overridden for individual articles.') . ')'; ?></em></small>
+<br />
+<label for="default_comment_status_page">
+<input name="default_comment_status_page" type="checkbox" id="default_comment_status_page" value="open" <?php checked('open', get_option('default_comment_status_page')); ?> />
+<?php _e('Allow people to post comments on new pages') ?></label>
+<br />
+<small><em><?php echo '(' . __('These settings may be overridden for individual pages.') . ')'; ?></em></small>
 </fieldset></td>
 </tr>
 <tr valign="top">
diff --git a/wp-admin/options.php b/wp-admin/options.php
index 15f489d3e..0a4e8817e 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options.php
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ if ( is_multisite() && !is_super_admin() && 'update' != $action )
 
 $whitelist_options = array(
 	'general' => array( 'blogname', 'blogdescription', 'gmt_offset', 'date_format', 'time_format', 'start_of_week', 'timezone_string' ),
-	'discussion' => array( 'default_pingback_flag', 'default_ping_status', 'default_comment_status', 'comments_notify', 'moderation_notify', 'comment_moderation', 'require_name_email', 'comment_whitelist', 'comment_max_links', 'moderation_keys', 'blacklist_keys', 'show_avatars', 'avatar_rating', 'avatar_default', 'close_comments_for_old_posts', 'close_comments_days_old', 'thread_comments', 'thread_comments_depth', 'page_comments', 'comments_per_page', 'default_comments_page', 'comment_order', 'comment_registration' ),
+	'discussion' => array( 'default_pingback_flag', 'default_ping_status', 'default_comment_status_page', 'default_comment_status', 'comments_notify', 'moderation_notify', 'comment_moderation', 'require_name_email', 'comment_whitelist', 'comment_max_links', 'moderation_keys', 'blacklist_keys', 'show_avatars', 'avatar_rating', 'avatar_default', 'close_comments_for_old_posts', 'close_comments_days_old', 'thread_comments', 'thread_comments_depth', 'page_comments', 'comments_per_page', 'default_comments_page', 'comment_order', 'comment_registration' ),
 	'media' => array( 'thumbnail_size_w', 'thumbnail_size_h', 'thumbnail_crop', 'medium_size_w', 'medium_size_h', 'large_size_w', 'large_size_h', 'image_default_size', 'image_default_align', 'image_default_link_type', 'embed_autourls', 'embed_size_w', 'embed_size_h' ),
 	'privacy' => array( 'blog_public' ),
 	'reading' => array( 'posts_per_page', 'posts_per_rss', 'rss_use_excerpt', 'blog_charset', 'show_on_front', 'page_on_front', 'page_for_posts' ),
diff --git a/wp-includes/post.php b/wp-includes/post.php
index 8c54b01db..e6a73717a 100644
--- a/wp-includes/post.php
+++ b/wp-includes/post.php
@@ -2159,7 +2159,11 @@ function wp_insert_post($postarr = array(), $wp_error = false) {
 		if ( $update )
 			$comment_status = 'closed';
 		else
-			$comment_status = get_option('default_comment_status');
+			if ( 'page' == $post_type ) {
+				$comment_status = get_option( 'default_comment_status_page' );
+			} else {
+				$comment_status = get_option( 'default_comment_status' );
+			}
 	}
 	if ( empty($ping_status) )
 		$ping_status = get_option('default_ping_status');