diff --git a/ceilometer/publisher/rpc.py b/ceilometer/publisher/rpc.py
index 99f22a859..892eca46a 100644
--- a/ceilometer/publisher/rpc.py
+++ b/ceilometer/publisher/rpc.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ class RPCPublisher(publisher.PublisherBase):
 
         self.target = options.get('target', ['record_metering_data'])[0]
 
-        self.policy = options.get('policy', ['wait'])[-1]
+        self.policy = options.get('policy', ['default'])[-1]
         self.max_queue_length = int(options.get(
             'max_queue_length', [1024])[-1])
 
diff --git a/tests/publisher/test_rpc_publisher.py b/tests/publisher/test_rpc_publisher.py
index 853eb525c..0e622d691 100644
--- a/tests/publisher/test_rpc_publisher.py
+++ b/tests/publisher/test_rpc_publisher.py
@@ -19,9 +19,11 @@
 """Tests for ceilometer/publish.py
 """
 
-import eventlet
 import datetime
 
+import eventlet
+import mock
+
 from ceilometer import sample
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import jsonutils
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import network_utils
@@ -296,10 +298,13 @@ class TestPublish(test.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(self.published), 2)
         self.assertEqual(len(publisher.local_queue), 0)
 
-    def test_published_with_no_policy(self):
+    @mock.patch('ceilometer.publisher.rpc.LOG')
+    def test_published_with_no_policy(self, mylog):
         self.rpc_unreachable = True
         publisher = rpc.RPCPublisher(
             network_utils.urlsplit('rpc://'))
+        self.assertTrue(mylog.info.called)
+
         self.assertRaises(
             SystemExit,
             publisher.publish_samples,
@@ -308,10 +313,12 @@ class TestPublish(test.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(self.published), 0)
         self.assertEqual(len(publisher.local_queue), 0)
 
-    def test_published_with_policy_block(self):
+    @mock.patch('ceilometer.publisher.rpc.LOG')
+    def test_published_with_policy_block(self, mylog):
         self.rpc_unreachable = True
         publisher = rpc.RPCPublisher(
             network_utils.urlsplit('rpc://?policy=default'))
+        self.assertTrue(mylog.info.called)
         self.assertRaises(
             SystemExit,
             publisher.publish_samples,
@@ -319,7 +326,8 @@ class TestPublish(test.BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(len(self.published), 0)
         self.assertEqual(len(publisher.local_queue), 0)
 
-    def test_published_with_policy_incorrect(self):
+    @mock.patch('ceilometer.publisher.rpc.LOG')
+    def test_published_with_policy_incorrect(self, mylog):
         self.rpc_unreachable = True
         publisher = rpc.RPCPublisher(
             network_utils.urlsplit('rpc://?policy=notexist'))
@@ -327,6 +335,7 @@ class TestPublish(test.BaseTestCase):
             SystemExit,
             publisher.publish_samples,
             None, self.test_data)
+        self.assertTrue(mylog.warn.called)
         self.assertEqual(publisher.policy, 'default')
         self.assertEqual(len(self.published), 0)
         self.assertEqual(len(publisher.local_queue), 0)