diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 3a9498c..57b5061 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -20,12 +20,19 @@ import {toHast} from 'mdast-util-to-hast'
  *
  * @type {import('unified').Plugin<[Options?]|void[], Root, string>}
  */
-export default function remarkHtml(options = {}) {
-  const handlers = options.handlers || {}
-  const schema =
-    options.sanitize && typeof options.sanitize === 'object'
-      ? options.sanitize
-      : undefined
+export default function remarkHtml(settings) {
+  const options = {...(settings || {})}
+  /** @type {boolean|undefined} */
+  let clean
+
+  if (typeof options.sanitize === 'boolean') {
+    clean = options.sanitize
+    options.sanitize = undefined
+  }
+
+  if (typeof clean !== 'boolean') {
+    clean = true
+  }
 
   Object.assign(this, {Compiler: compiler})
 
@@ -33,13 +40,16 @@ export default function remarkHtml(options = {}) {
    * @type {import('unified').CompilerFunction<Root, string>}
    */
   function compiler(node, file) {
-    const hast = toHast(node, {allowDangerousHtml: !options.sanitize, handlers})
+    const hast = toHast(node, {
+      allowDangerousHtml: !clean,
+      handlers: options.handlers
+    })
     // @ts-expect-error: assume root.
-    const cleanHast = options.sanitize ? sanitize(hast, schema) : hast
+    const cleanHast = clean ? sanitize(hast, options.sanitize) : hast
     const result = toHtml(
       // @ts-expect-error: assume root.
       cleanHast,
-      Object.assign({}, options, {allowDangerousHtml: !options.sanitize})
+      Object.assign({}, options, {allowDangerousHtml: !clean})
     )
 
     if (file.extname) {
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 790a637..8bf1fb2 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -41,17 +41,17 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
     'should throw when not given a node'
   )
 
-  let processor = remark().use(remarkHtml)
+  let processorDangerous = remark().use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
 
   t.equal(
     // @ts-expect-error: unknown node.
-    processor.stringify({type: 'alpha'}),
+    processorDangerous.stringify({type: 'alpha'}),
     '<div></div>',
     'should stringify unknown nodes'
   )
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.stringify({
+    processorDangerous.stringify({
       // @ts-expect-error: unknown node.
       type: 'alpha',
       children: [{type: 'strong', children: [{type: 'text', value: 'bravo'}]}]
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
   )
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.stringify({
+    processorDangerous.stringify({
       // @ts-expect-error: unknown node.
       type: 'alpha',
       children: [{type: 'text', value: 'bravo'}],
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
     'should stringify unknown nodes'
   )
 
-  processor = remark().use(remarkHtml, {
+  processorDangerous = remark().use(remarkHtml, {
+    sanitize: false,
     handlers: {
       /** @param {Paragraph} node */
       paragraph(h, node) {
@@ -91,12 +92,12 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
   })
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.processSync('paragraph text').toString(),
+    processorDangerous.processSync('paragraph text').toString(),
     '<p>changed</p>\n',
     'should allow overriding handlers'
   )
 
-  processor = remark()
+  processorDangerous = remark()
     .use(
       /** @type {import('unified').Plugin<void[], Root>} */
       () => (ast) => {
@@ -106,15 +107,17 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
         }
       }
     )
-    .use(remarkHtml)
+    .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.processSync('![hello](example.jpg "overwritten")').toString(),
+    processorDangerous
+      .processSync('![hello](example.jpg "overwritten")')
+      .toString(),
     '<p><img src="example.jpg" alt="hello" title="overwrite"></p>\n',
     'should patch and merge attributes'
   )
 
-  processor = remark()
+  processorDangerous = remark()
     .use(
       /** @type {import('unified').Plugin<void[], Root>} */
       () => (ast) => {
@@ -122,15 +125,15 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
         ast.children[0].children[0].data = {hName: 'b'}
       }
     )
-    .use(remarkHtml)
+    .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.processSync('**Bold!**').toString(),
+    processorDangerous.processSync('**Bold!**').toString(),
     '<p><b>Bold!</b></p>\n',
     'should overwrite a tag-name'
   )
 
-  processor = remark()
+  processorDangerous = remark()
     .use(
       /** @type {import('unified').Plugin<void[], Root>} */
       () => (ast) => {
@@ -149,15 +152,15 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
         }
       }
     )
-    .use(remarkHtml)
+    .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.processSync('`var`').toString(),
+    processorDangerous.processSync('`var`').toString(),
     '<p><code><span class="token">var</span></code></p>\n',
     'should overwrite content'
   )
 
-  processor = remark()
+  processorDangerous = remark()
     .use(
       /** @type {import('unified').Plugin<void[], Root>} */
       () => (ast) => {
@@ -179,12 +182,12 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
     .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: true})
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.processSync('`var`').toString(),
+    processorDangerous.processSync('`var`').toString(),
     '<p><code>var</code></p>\n',
     'should not overwrite content in `sanitize` mode'
   )
 
-  processor = remark()
+  processorDangerous = remark()
     .use(
       /** @type {import('unified').Plugin<void[], Root>} */
       () => (ast) => {
@@ -193,10 +196,10 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
         }
       }
     )
-    .use(remarkHtml)
+    .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
 
   t.equal(
-    processor.processSync('```js\nvar\n```\n').toString(),
+    processorDangerous.processSync('```js\nvar\n```\n').toString(),
     '<pre><code class="foo">var\n</code></pre>\n',
     'should overwrite classes on code'
   )
@@ -206,8 +209,8 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
       .use(remarkHtml)
       .processSync('## Hello <span>world</span>')
       .toString(),
-    '<h2>Hello <span>world</span></h2>\n',
-    'should be `sanitation: false` by default'
+    '<h2>Hello world</h2>\n',
+    'should be `sanitation: true` by default'
   )
 
   t.equal(
@@ -224,7 +227,7 @@ test('remarkHtml', (t) => {
       .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: null})
       .processSync('## Hello <span>world</span>')
       .toString(),
-    '<h2>Hello <span>world</span></h2>\n',
+    '<h2>Hello world</h2>\n',
     'should support sanitation: null'
   )
 
@@ -294,7 +297,7 @@ test('CommonMark', (t) => {
 
     const actual = unified()
       .use(remarkParse)
-      .use(remarkHtml)
+      .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
       .processSync(example.markdown)
       .toString()
 
@@ -337,7 +340,7 @@ test('Integrations', (t) => {
     const result = remark()
       // @ts-expect-error: fine.
       .use(integrationMap[name])
-      .use(remarkHtml)
+      .use(remarkHtml, {sanitize: false})
       .processSync(file)
       .toString()