diff --git a/zerver/lib/actions.py b/zerver/lib/actions.py
index 2e4b0c2862..4650c68944 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/actions.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/actions.py
@@ -740,6 +740,12 @@ def notify_subscriptions_added(user_profile, sub_pairs, no_log=False):
                   users=[user_profile.id])
     tornado_callbacks.send_notification(notice)
 
+def notify_for_streams_by_default(user_profile):
+    # For users in newer realms, generate notifications for stream
+    # messages by default.
+    return user_profile.realm.date_created > datetime.datetime(
+        2013, 9, 24, tzinfo=timezone.utc)
+
 def bulk_add_subscriptions(streams, users):
     recipients_map = bulk_get_recipients(Recipient.STREAM, [stream.id for stream in streams])
     recipients = [recipient.id for recipient in recipients_map.values()]
@@ -777,7 +783,8 @@ def bulk_add_subscriptions(streams, users):
     for (user_profile, recipient_id, stream) in new_subs:
         color = pick_color_helper(user_profile, subs_by_user[user_profile.id])
         sub_to_add = Subscription(user_profile=user_profile, active=True,
-                                  color=color, recipient_id=recipient_id)
+                                  color=color, recipient_id=recipient_id,
+                                  notifications=notify_for_streams_by_default(user_profile))
         subs_by_user[user_profile.id].append(sub_to_add)
         subs_to_add.append((sub_to_add, stream))
     Subscription.objects.bulk_create([sub for (sub, stream) in subs_to_add])
@@ -818,7 +825,8 @@ def do_add_subscription(user_profile, stream, no_log=False):
     color = pick_color(user_profile)
     (subscription, created) = Subscription.objects.get_or_create(
         user_profile=user_profile, recipient=recipient,
-        defaults={'active': True, 'color': color})
+        defaults={'active': True, 'color': color,
+                  'notifications': notify_for_streams_by_default(user_profile)})
     did_subscribe = created
     if not subscription.active:
         did_subscribe = True
diff --git a/zerver/views/__init__.py b/zerver/views/__init__.py
index 1af1078511..3bc9f71d3e 100644
--- a/zerver/views/__init__.py
+++ b/zerver/views/__init__.py
@@ -37,7 +37,8 @@ from zerver.lib.actions import do_remove_subscription, bulk_remove_subscriptions
     do_send_messages, do_add_subscription, get_default_subs, do_deactivate, \
     user_email_is_unique, do_invite_users, do_refer_friend, compute_mit_user_fullname, \
     do_add_alert_words, do_remove_alert_words, do_set_alert_words, get_subscriber_emails, \
-    update_user_activity_interval, do_set_muted_topics, do_rename_stream
+    update_user_activity_interval, do_set_muted_topics, do_rename_stream, \
+    notify_for_streams_by_default
 from zerver.lib.create_user import random_api_key
 from zerver.forms import RegistrationForm, HomepageForm, ToSForm, CreateBotForm, \
     is_inactive, not_mit_mailing_list
@@ -707,7 +708,8 @@ def home(request):
         onboarding_steps      = ujson.loads(user_profile.onboarding_steps),
         staging               = settings.STAGING_DEPLOYED or not settings.DEPLOYED,
         alert_words           = register_ret['alert_words'],
-        show_admin            = user_profile.show_admin
+        show_admin            = user_profile.show_admin,
+        notify_for_streams_by_default = notify_for_streams_by_default(user_profile)
     ))
 
     statsd.incr('views.home')