diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/man.text b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/man.text
index b439e0f5..9c968d84 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/man.text
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/man.text
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ This type is used on FreeBSD to manage jails.
 REQUIRED PARAMETERS
 -------------------
 state::
-   Either "present" or "absent."
+   Either "present" or "absent", defaults to "present".
 
 jailbase::
    The location of the .tgz archive containing the base fs for your jails.
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/default/state b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/default/state
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7f6134f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/default/state
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+present
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/optional b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/optional
index 08ecd469..b36f0fa5 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/optional
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/optional
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ interface
 devfs-ruleset
 jaildir
 jailbase
+state
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/required b/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/required
deleted file mode 100644
index ff72b5c7..00000000
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__jail/parameter/required
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-state
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/man.text b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/man.text
index 2b72e7ae..d7eff3be 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/man.text
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/man.text
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ user::
 gemset::
     The gemset to use
 state::
-    Either "present" or "absent"
+    Either "present" or "absent", defaults to "present".
 
 OPTIONAL PARAMETERS
 -------------------
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/default/state b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/default/state
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7f6134f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/default/state
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+present
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/optional b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/optional
index 4ad96d51..96983811 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/optional
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/optional
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 default
+state
diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/required b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/required
index 75f60bb8..58243a95 100644
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/required
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__rvm_gem/parameter/required
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
-state
 gemset
 user