diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 4395fce..cf539c2 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -698,7 +698,7 @@
                 },
                 "gitlens.advanced.toggleWhitespace.enabled": {
                     "type": "boolean",
-                    "default": false,
+                    "default": true,
                     "description": "Specifies whether or not to toggle whitespace off then showing blame annotations (*may* be required by certain fonts/themes)"
                 }
             }
diff --git a/src/annotations/annotationController.ts b/src/annotations/annotationController.ts
index 00b3de5..2e15e7f 100644
--- a/src/annotations/annotationController.ts
+++ b/src/annotations/annotationController.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ import { WhitespaceController } from './whitespaceController';
 
 export const Decorations = {
     annotation: window.createTextEditorDecorationType({
-        isWholeLine: true,
-        textDecoration: 'none'
+        isWholeLine: true,
+        textDecoration: 'none'
     } as DecorationRenderOptions),
     highlight: undefined as TextEditorDecorationType | undefined
 };
@@ -56,16 +56,27 @@ export class AnnotationController extends Disposable {
 
     private _onConfigurationChanged() {
         let toggleWhitespace = workspace.getConfiguration(`${ExtensionKey}.advanced.toggleWhitespace`).get<boolean>('enabled');
-        if (!toggleWhitespace) {
-            // Until https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/11485 is fixed we need to toggle whitespace for non-monospace fonts and ligatures
-            // TODO: detect monospace font
-            toggleWhitespace = workspace.getConfiguration('editor').get<boolean>('fontLigatures');
+        // Until https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/11485 is fixed we need to toggle whitespace for non-monospace fonts and ligatures
+        // TODO: detect monospace vs non-monospace font
+
+        // if (!toggleWhitespace) {
+        //     // Since we know ligatures will break the whitespace rendering -- turn it back on
+        //     toggleWhitespace = workspace.getConfiguration('editor').get<boolean>('fontLigatures', false);
+        // }
+
+        // If the setting is on and we aren't showing any annotations, make sure it is necessary (i.e. only when rendering whitespace)
+        if (toggleWhitespace && this._annotationProviders.size === 0) {
+            toggleWhitespace = (workspace.getConfiguration('editor').get<string>('renderWhitespace') !== 'none');
         }
 
-        if (toggleWhitespace && !this._whitespaceController) {
+        let changed = false;
+
+        if (toggleWhitespace && this._whitespaceController === undefined) {
+            changed = true;
             this._whitespaceController = new WhitespaceController();
         }
-        else if (!toggleWhitespace && this._whitespaceController) {
+        else if (!toggleWhitespace && this._whitespaceController !== undefined) {
+            changed = true;
             this._whitespaceController.dispose();
             this._whitespaceController = undefined;
         }
@@ -74,8 +85,6 @@ export class AnnotationController extends Disposable {
         const cfgHighlight = cfg.blame.file.lineHighlight;
         const cfgTheme = cfg.theme.lineHighlight;
 
-        let changed = false;
-
         if (!Objects.areEquivalent(cfgHighlight, this._config && this._config.blame.file.lineHighlight) ||
             !Objects.areEquivalent(cfgTheme, this._config && this._config.theme.lineHighlight)) {
             changed = true;
@@ -129,7 +138,7 @@ export class AnnotationController extends Disposable {
             for (const provider of this._annotationProviders.values()) {
                 if (provider === undefined) continue;
 
-                provider.reset();
+                provider.reset(this._whitespaceController);
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/annotations/annotationProvider.ts b/src/annotations/annotationProvider.ts
index e36168e..a4e013e 100644
--- a/src/annotations/annotationProvider.ts
+++ b/src/annotations/annotationProvider.ts
@@ -60,10 +60,11 @@ import { WhitespaceController } from './whitespaceController';
         this.whitespaceController && await this.whitespaceController.restore();
     }
 
-    async reset() {
+    async reset(whitespaceController: WhitespaceController | undefined) {
         await this.clear();
 
         this._config = workspace.getConfiguration().get<IConfig>(ExtensionKey)!;
+        this.whitespaceController = whitespaceController;
 
         await this.provideAnnotation(this.editor === undefined ? undefined : this.editor.selection.active.line);
     }