diff --git a/sigil/common/sigil-defaults.properties b/sigil/common/sigil-defaults.properties
index e69de29..bfc9d0d 100644
--- a/sigil/common/sigil-defaults.properties
+++ b/sigil/common/sigil-defaults.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# sigil common default properties
+-defaults: ${BLDCOMMON:-../bldcommon}/sigil-defaults.properties