diff --git a/src/mol-plugin/behavior/dynamic/labels.ts b/src/mol-plugin/behavior/dynamic/labels.ts
index f717178939a788da751fa6bb364176fa7a41b391..f30f4464e52091c277f7cdcf9531faf4f5d5a5c5 100644
--- a/src/mol-plugin/behavior/dynamic/labels.ts
+++ b/src/mol-plugin/behavior/dynamic/labels.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ function getLabelsText(data: LabelsData, props: PD.Values<Text.Params>, text?: T
 export const SceneLabels = PluginBehavior.create<SceneLabelsProps>({
     name: 'scene-labels',
     display: { name: 'Scene Labels', group: 'Labels' },
+    canAutoUpdate: () => true,
     ctor: class extends PluginBehavior.Handler<SceneLabelsProps> {
         private data: LabelsData = {
             transforms: [Mat4.identity()],
diff --git a/src/mol-plugin/context.ts b/src/mol-plugin/context.ts
index 069805cb01d623126d81116f43fd632e0449076e..6de25de940cab524258ede72007a227af87d05a7 100644
--- a/src/mol-plugin/context.ts
+++ b/src/mol-plugin/context.ts
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ export class PluginContext {
         const tree = this.state.behaviorState.tree.build();
 
         for (const b of this.spec.behaviors) {
-            tree.toRoot().apply(b.transformer, b.defaultParams || { }, { ref: b.transformer.id });
+            tree.toRoot().apply(b.transformer, b.defaultParams, { ref: b.transformer.id });
         }
 
         await this.runTask(this.state.behaviorState.update(tree));
diff --git a/src/mol-plugin/index.ts b/src/mol-plugin/index.ts
index 55eed51e3f48ae9a6945a6f2e1c9a3110aa17b02..169ab40370fd6b273ddcb865a7f4c40d24a3cdb6 100644
--- a/src/mol-plugin/index.ts
+++ b/src/mol-plugin/index.ts
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ import { PluginSpec } from './spec';
 import { DownloadStructure, CreateComplexRepresentation, OpenStructure } from './state/actions/basic';
 import { StateTransforms } from './state/transforms';
 import { PluginBehaviors } from './behavior';
-import { ParamDefinition as PD } from 'mol-util/param-definition'
-import { SceneLabelsParams } from './behavior/dynamic/labels';
 
 function getParam(name: string, regex: string): string {
     let r = new RegExp(`${name}=(${regex})[&]?`, 'i');
@@ -40,7 +38,7 @@ const DefaultSpec: PluginSpec = {
         PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.Representation.DefaultLociLabelProvider),
         PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.Camera.FocusLociOnSelect, { minRadius: 20, extraRadius: 4 }),
         PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.Animation.StructureAnimation, { rotate: false, rotateValue: 0, explode: false, explodeValue: 0 }),
-        PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.Labels.SceneLabels, { ...PD.getDefaultValues(SceneLabelsParams) }), // TODO how to properly call PluginBehaviors.Labels.SceneLabels.definition.params()
+        PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.Labels.SceneLabels),
         PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.CustomProps.PDBeStructureQualityReport, { autoAttach: true }),
         PluginSpec.Behavior(PluginBehaviors.CustomProps.RCSBAssemblySymmetry, { autoAttach: true }),
     ]