diff --git a/plugins/RSS/config.py b/plugins/RSS/config.py
index e4754375b..7029f5448 100644
--- a/plugins/RSS/config.py
+++ b/plugins/RSS/config.py
@@ -72,6 +72,12 @@ conf.registerChannelValue(RSS, 'showLinks',
     along with the title of the feed when the rss command is called.
     supybot.plugins.RSS.announce.showLinks affects whether links will be
     listed when a feed is automatically announced.""")))
+conf.registerGlobalValue(RSS, 'defaultNumberOfHeadlines',
+    registry.PositiveInteger(1, """Indicates how many headlines an rss feed
+    will output by default, if no number is provided."""))
+conf.registerChannelValue(RSS, 'initialAnnounceHeadlines',
+    registry.PositiveInteger(5, """Indicates how many headlines an rss feed
+    will output when it is first added to announce for a channel."""))
 
 conf.registerGroup(RSS, 'announce')
 conf.registerChannelValue(RSS.announce, 'showLinks',
diff --git a/plugins/RSS/plugin.py b/plugins/RSS/plugin.py
index eb0c7af11..e11e23dbb 100644
--- a/plugins/RSS/plugin.py
+++ b/plugins/RSS/plugin.py
@@ -185,6 +185,8 @@ class RSS(callbacks.Plugin):
             newheadlines = filter(None, newheadlines) # Removes Nones.
             if newheadlines:
                 for channel in channels:
+                    if len(oldheadlines) == 0:
+                        newheadlines = newheadlines[:self.registryValue('initialAnnounceHeadlines', channel)]
                     bold = self.registryValue('bold', channel)
                     sep = self.registryValue('headlineSeparator', channel)
                     prefix = self.registryValue('announcementPrefix', channel)
@@ -405,6 +407,8 @@ class RSS(callbacks.Plugin):
         headlines = self.buildHeadlines(headlines, channel, 'showLinks')
         if n:
             headlines = headlines[:n]
+        else:
+            headlines = headlines[:self.registryValue('defaultNumberOfHeadlines')]
         sep = self.registryValue('headlineSeparator', channel)
         if self.registryValue('bold', channel):
             sep = ircutils.bold(sep)