diff --git a/RELEASE.md b/RELEASE.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..045cfad6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Release type: major
+
+Change default of `--fatal` command line switch to terminate on error.
diff --git a/pelican/__init__.py b/pelican/__init__.py
index 89a63e84..d21c0c56 100644
--- a/pelican/__init__.py
+++ b/pelican/__init__.py
@@ -442,12 +442,12 @@ def parse_arguments(argv=None):
 
     parser.add_argument(
         "--fatal",
-        metavar="errors|warnings",
-        choices=("errors", "warnings"),
-        default="",
+        metavar="errors|warnings|ignore",
+        choices=("errors", "warnings", "ignore"),
+        default="errors",
         help=(
             "Exit the program with non-zero status if any "
-            "errors/warnings encountered."
+            "errors/warnings encountered, or ignore any errors."
         ),
     )
 
diff --git a/pelican/log.py b/pelican/log.py
index edf2f182..cf9f5db9 100644
--- a/pelican/log.py
+++ b/pelican/log.py
@@ -131,13 +131,23 @@ DEFAULT_LOG_HANDLER = RichHandler(console=console)
 
 def init(
     level=None,
-    fatal="",
+    fatal="errors",
     handler=DEFAULT_LOG_HANDLER,
     name=None,
     logs_dedup_min_level=None,
 ):
+    """Initialize the logger.
+
+    :param level: the log level
+    :param fatal: how to set up the FatalLogger.  If "warning", then warnings are fatal.
+                  If fatal is set to anything other than "" or "ignore",
+                  then errors are fatal.
+    :param handler: the logging handler
+    :param name: the name of the logger to use
+    :param logs_dedup_min_level:  the LimitFilter.LOGS_DEDUP_MIN_LEVEL to use
+    """
     FatalLogger.warnings_fatal = fatal.startswith("warning")
-    FatalLogger.errors_fatal = bool(fatal)
+    FatalLogger.errors_fatal = bool(fatal) and fatal != "ignore"
 
     LOG_FORMAT = "%(message)s"
     logging.basicConfig(
@@ -155,12 +165,13 @@ def init(
         LimitFilter.LOGS_DEDUP_MIN_LEVEL = logs_dedup_min_level
 
 
-def log_warnings():
+def log_warnings(fatal: str) -> None:
+    """Redirect warnings module to use logging instead."""
     import warnings
 
     logging.captureWarnings(True)
     warnings.simplefilter("default", DeprecationWarning)
-    init(logging.DEBUG, name="py.warnings")
+    init(logging.DEBUG, name="py.warnings", fatal=fatal)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/pelican/tests/__init__.py b/pelican/tests/__init__.py
index 564e417c..2d5ecb1c 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ import warnings
 from pelican.log import log_warnings
 
 # redirect warnings module to use logging instead
-log_warnings()
+# "ignore" means "don't raise on logging an error"
+log_warnings("ignore")
 
 # setup warnings to log DeprecationWarning's and error on
 # warnings in pelican's codebase
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_init.py b/pelican/tests/test_init.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1f8e156b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_init.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import unittest
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+from pelican import DEFAULT_LOG_HANDLER, main
+
+
+class TestLog(unittest.TestCase):
+    @patch("pelican.get_instance")
+    @patch("pelican.init_logging")
+    def test_main_fatal_default(self, init_logging_mock, get_instance):
+        get_instance.side_effect = lambda *args, **kwargs: (MagicMock(), MagicMock())
+        main()
+        init_logging_mock.assert_called_once_with(
+            level=None,
+            # default is "errors"
+            fatal="errors",
+            name="pelican",
+            handler=DEFAULT_LOG_HANDLER,
+            logs_dedup_min_level=30,
+        )