diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index ed2d20536..7b91f62ae 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ Version 0.4.2 (under dev!)
 * aspell: rename option aspell.look.color to aspell.color.misspelled, add option
   aspell.color.suggestions
 * aspell: add support of enchant library (patch #6858)
+* irc: replace default prefix modes "qaohvu" by the standard ones "ov" when
+  PREFIX is not sent by server (bug #39802)
 * irc: use 6697 as default port for SSL servers created with URL "ircs://"
   (bug #39621)
 * irc: display number of ops/halfops/voices on channel join only for supported
diff --git a/src/plugins/irc/irc-server.c b/src/plugins/irc/irc-server.c
index 28266c0aa..5cecbbc16 100644
--- a/src/plugins/irc/irc-server.c
+++ b/src/plugins/irc/irc-server.c
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ char *irc_server_option_default[IRC_SERVER_NUM_OPTIONS] =
 char *irc_server_casemapping_string[IRC_SERVER_NUM_CASEMAPPING] =
 { "rfc1459", "strict-rfc1459", "ascii" };
 
-char *irc_server_prefix_modes_default = "qaohvu";
-char *irc_server_prefix_chars_default = "~&@%+-";
+char *irc_server_prefix_modes_default = "ov";
+char *irc_server_prefix_chars_default = "@+";
 char *irc_server_chanmodes_default    = "beI,k,l";
 
 const char *irc_server_send_default_tags = NULL;  /* default tags when       */