diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9baf581f..bfeeb12b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@
 
 - fix: EXTENSIONS_DYNAMIC has inconsistent leading dots @williballenthin #3028
 
+- fix: render_default always returns empty string @williballenthin #3012
+
 ### capa Explorer Web
 
 ### capa Explorer IDA Pro plugin
diff --git a/capa/render/default.py b/capa/render/default.py
index ff273b51..283fb5c4 100644
--- a/capa/render/default.py
+++ b/capa/render/default.py
@@ -13,13 +13,11 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 
-import io
 import collections
 import urllib.parse
 
 import rich
 import rich.table
-import rich.console
 from rich.console import Console
 
 import capa.render.utils as rutils
@@ -325,17 +323,15 @@ def render_mbc(doc: rd.ResultDocument, console: Console):
         console.print(table)
 
 
-def render_default(doc: rd.ResultDocument):
-    f = io.StringIO()
-    console = rich.console.Console()
-
-    render_meta(doc, console)
-    render_attack(doc, console)
-    render_maec(doc, console)
-    render_mbc(doc, console)
-    render_capabilities(doc, console)
-
-    return f.getvalue()
+def render_default(doc: rd.ResultDocument) -> str:
+    console = Console(highlight=False)
+    with console.capture() as capture:
+        render_meta(doc, console)
+        render_attack(doc, console)
+        render_maec(doc, console)
+        render_mbc(doc, console)
+        render_capabilities(doc, console)
+    return capture.get()
 
 
 def render(meta, rules: RuleSet, capabilities: MatchResults) -> str:
diff --git a/tests/test_render.py b/tests/test_render.py
index a7e85901..c931dfea 100644
--- a/tests/test_render.py
+++ b/tests/test_render.py
@@ -245,3 +245,10 @@ def test_render_vverbose_feature(feature, expected):
 
     output = capture.get().strip()
     assert output == expected
+
+
+def test_render_default_returns_non_empty(pma0101_rd):
+    output = capa.render.default.render_default(pma0101_rd)
+    assert output != ""
+    assert "md5" in output
+    assert "290934c61de9176ad682ffdd65f0a669" in output