diff --git a/api/client/commands.go b/api/client/commands.go
index 7f4288ec2b..430613fde8 100644
--- a/api/client/commands.go
+++ b/api/client/commands.go
@@ -198,6 +198,8 @@ func (cli *DockerCli) CmdBuild(args ...string) error {
 	}
 	if *rm {
 		v.Set("rm", "1")
+	} else {
+		v.Set("rm", "0")
 	}
 
 	if *forceRm {
diff --git a/api/server/server.go b/api/server/server.go
index 0ac57471af..1c620b3c96 100644
--- a/api/server/server.go
+++ b/api/server/server.go
@@ -903,8 +903,11 @@ func postBuild(eng *engine.Engine, version version.Version, w http.ResponseWrite
 	} else {
 		job.Stdout.Add(utils.NewWriteFlusher(w))
 	}
+
 	if r.FormValue("forcerm") == "1" && version.GreaterThanOrEqualTo("1.12") {
 		job.Setenv("rm", "1")
+	} else if r.FormValue("rm") == "" && version.GreaterThanOrEqualTo("1.12") {
+		job.Setenv("rm", "1")
 	} else {
 		job.Setenv("rm", r.FormValue("rm"))
 	}
diff --git a/docs/sources/reference/api/docker_remote_api_v1.12.md b/docs/sources/reference/api/docker_remote_api_v1.12.md
index d2b7f8f908..188d4fe0a2 100644
--- a/docs/sources/reference/api/docker_remote_api_v1.12.md
+++ b/docs/sources/reference/api/docker_remote_api_v1.12.md
@@ -1063,7 +1063,7 @@ Build an image from Dockerfile via stdin
         the resulting image in case of success
     -   **q** – suppress verbose build output
     -   **nocache** – do not use the cache when building the image
-    -   **rm** - remove intermediate containers after a successful build
+    -   **rm** - remove intermediate containers after a successful build (default behavior)
     -   **forcerm - always remove intermediate containers (includes rm)
 
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