diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 2b52ecb5..e7597b3a 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -94,4 +94,5 @@ that much better:
  * andrewmlevy
  * Chris Faulkner
  * Ashwin Purohit
- * Shalabh Aggarwal
\ No newline at end of file
+ * Shalabh Aggarwal
+ * Chris Williams
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/mongoengine/base.py b/mongoengine/base.py
index 369c10f3..3190de6f 100644
--- a/mongoengine/base.py
+++ b/mongoengine/base.py
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ class ComplexBaseField(BaseField):
                     # _types / _cls data so make it a generic reference allows
                     # us to dereference
                     meta = getattr(v, 'meta', getattr(v, '_meta', {}))
-                    if meta and not meta['allow_inheritance'] and not self.field:
+                    if meta and not meta.get('allow_inheritance', True) and not self.field:
                         from fields import GenericReferenceField
                         value_dict[k] = GenericReferenceField().to_mongo(v)
                     else: