diff --git a/book/routing.rst b/book/routing.rst
index 172d68dc089..3abd34f79f0 100644
--- a/book/routing.rst
+++ b/book/routing.rst
@@ -432,6 +432,13 @@ match, giving the ``page`` parameter a value of ``2``. Perfect.
 | /blog/2            | blog  | {page} = 2            |
 +--------------------+-------+-----------------------+
 
+.. caution::
+
+    Of course, you can have more than one optional placeholder (e.g. ``/blog/{slug}/{page}``),
+    but everything after an optional placeholder must be optional. For example,
+    ``/{page}/blog`` is a valid path, but ``page`` will always be required
+    (i.e. simply ``/blog`` will not match this route).
+
 .. tip::
 
     Routes with optional parameters at the end will not match on requests
diff --git a/book/translation.rst b/book/translation.rst
index 840fab3baea..70a6ad87b8d 100644
--- a/book/translation.rst
+++ b/book/translation.rst
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ by the routing system using the special ``_locale`` parameter:
 
         contact:
             path:     /{_locale}/contact
-            defaults: { _controller: AcmeDemoBundle:Contact:index, _locale: en }
+            defaults: { _controller: AcmeDemoBundle:Contact:index }
             requirements:
                 _locale: en|fr|de
 
@@ -467,7 +467,6 @@ by the routing system using the special ``_locale`` parameter:
 
             <route id="contact" path="/{_locale}/contact">
                 <default key="_controller">AcmeDemoBundle:Contact:index</default>
-                <default key="_locale">en</default>
                 <requirement key="_locale">en|fr|de</requirement>
             </route>
         </routes>
@@ -478,12 +477,15 @@ by the routing system using the special ``_locale`` parameter:
         use Symfony\Component\Routing\Route;
 
         $collection = new RouteCollection();
-        $collection->add('contact', new Route('/{_locale}/contact', array(
-            '_controller' => 'AcmeDemoBundle:Contact:index',
-            '_locale'     => 'en',
-        ), array(
-            '_locale'     => 'en|fr|de',
-        )));
+        $collection->add('contact', new Route(
+            '/{_locale}/contact',
+            array(
+                '_controller' => 'AcmeDemoBundle:Contact:index',
+            ),
+            array(
+                '_locale'     => 'en|fr|de',
+            )
+        ));
 
         return $collection;