diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e614ede89..2517b28eb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Top level makefile, the real shit is at src/Makefile
+# Top level makefile, this just calls into src/Makefile where the real work is done. Changes should be made there.
 
 default: all
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aba0cb8fa..832f50085 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -92,17 +92,12 @@ Init and clone submodule dependencies:
 
 Install dependencies:
 
-    % sudo apt install build-essential nasm autotools-dev autoconf libjemalloc-dev tcl tcl-dev uuid-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libbz2-dev libzstd-dev liblz4-dev libsnappy-dev
+    % sudo apt install build-essential nasm autotools-dev autoconf libjemalloc-dev tcl tcl-dev uuid-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev libbz2-dev libzstd-dev liblz4-dev libsnappy-dev libssl-dev
 
 Compiling is as simple as:
 
     % make
 
-To build with TLS support, you'll need OpenSSL development libraries (e.g.
-libssl-dev on Debian/Ubuntu) and run:
-
-    % make BUILD_TLS=yes
-
 To build with systemd support, you'll need systemd development libraries (such 
 as libsystemd-dev on Debian/Ubuntu or systemd-devel on CentOS) and run:
 
@@ -115,7 +110,7 @@ To append a suffix to KeyDB program names, use:
 ***Note that the following dependencies may be needed: 
     % sudo apt-get install autoconf autotools-dev libnuma-dev libtool
 
-If TLS is built, running the tests with TLS enabled (you will need `tcl-tls`
+Running the tests with TLS enabled (you will need `tcl-tls`
 installed):
 
     % ./utils/gen-test-certs.sh
@@ -217,11 +212,11 @@ All the options in keydb.conf are also supported as options using the command
 line, with exactly the same name.
 
 
-Running Redis with TLS:
+Running KeyDB with TLS:
 ------------------
 
 Please consult the [TLS.md](TLS.md) file for more information on
-how to use Redis with TLS.
+how to use KeyDB with TLS.
 
 
 Playing with KeyDB
diff --git a/TLS.md b/TLS.md
index 9d083bb3a..d0df7f7b1 100644
--- a/TLS.md
+++ b/TLS.md
@@ -6,10 +6,7 @@ Getting Started
 
 ### Building
 
-To build with TLS support you'll need OpenSSL development libraries (e.g.
-libssl-dev on Debian/Ubuntu).
-
-Run `make BUILD_TLS=yes`.
+TLS support is enabled in the default build. To build without TLS, run `make BUILD_TLS=no`.
 
 ### Tests
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index d4de93712..f48e93821 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@
 # Dependencies are stored in the Makefile.dep file. To rebuild this file
 # Just use 'make dep', but this is only needed by developers.
 
+# we ship KeyDB with TLS by default
+# export it here as both this file and deps/Makefile uses it
+export BUILD_TLS ?= yes
+
 release_hdr := $(shell sh -c './mkreleasehdr.sh')
 uname_S := $(shell sh -c 'uname -s 2>/dev/null || echo not')
 uname_M := $(shell sh -c 'uname -m 2>/dev/null || echo not')