diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 1ba5efe..395804a 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Package: rotio
 Type: Package
 Title: R Bindings for OpenTimelineIO
-Version: 0.0.0.6
+Version: 0.0.0.7
 Date: 2026-06-04
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Troy", "Hernandez", role = c("aut", "cre"),
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 7f4adc8..a929ca3 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# rotio 0.0.0.7
+
+* `to_timecode()` `rate` now defaults to the `RationalTime`'s own rate (OTIO's
+  no-rate `to_timecode` overload), e.g. `to_timecode(RationalTime(17982, 30000/1001))`
+  infers drop-frame and returns `"00:10:00;00"`.
+
 # rotio 0.0.0.6
 
 * Add GitHub Actions CI (r-ci) on Ubuntu and macOS, building
diff --git a/R/time.R b/R/time.R
index f299481..27ab6c2 100644
--- a/R/time.R
+++ b/R/time.R
@@ -100,7 +100,8 @@ rescaled_to <- function(rt, new_rate) cpp_rt_rescaled_to(rt, new_rate)
 #' SMPTE timecode conversions
 #'
 #' @param rt A \code{RationalTime}.
-#' @param rate Timecode rate.
+#' @param rate Timecode rate. Defaults to the \code{RationalTime}'s own rate
+#'   (OTIO's no-rate \code{to_timecode} overload).
 #' @param drop_frame -1 infer, 0 force non-drop, 1 force drop-frame.
 #' @return A timecode string.
 #' @examples
@@ -108,7 +109,10 @@ rescaled_to <- function(rt, new_rate) cpp_rt_rescaled_to(rt, new_rate)
 #' tc
 #' from_timecode(tc, 24)
 #' @export
-to_timecode <- function(rt, rate, drop_frame = -1L) {
+to_timecode <- function(rt, rate = NULL, drop_frame = -1L) {
+    if (is.null(rate)) {
+        rate <- rate(rt)
+    }
     cpp_rt_to_timecode(rt, rate, as.integer(drop_frame))
 }
 
diff --git a/inst/tinytest/test_time.R b/inst/tinytest/test_time.R
index c93ba1c..7ab0984 100644
--- a/inst/tinytest/test_time.R
+++ b/inst/tinytest/test_time.R
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ expect_equal(value(rescaled_to(RationalTime(24, 24), 48)), 48)
 expect_equal(to_timecode(RationalTime(48, 24), 24), "00:00:02:00")
 expect_equal(value(from_timecode("00:00:02:00", 24)), 48)
 
+## no-rate overload: uses the RationalTime's own rate + infers drop-frame
+expect_equal(to_timecode(RationalTime(48, 24)), "00:00:02:00")
+expect_equal(to_timecode(RationalTime(17982, 30000 / 1001)), "00:10:00;00")
+
 ## arithmetic and comparison (Ops)
 expect_equal(value(RationalTime(10, 24) + RationalTime(5, 24)), 15)
 expect_equal(value(RationalTime(10, 24) - RationalTime(4, 24)), 6)
diff --git a/man/to_timecode.Rd b/man/to_timecode.Rd
index 25564a2..01ba4c0 100644
--- a/man/to_timecode.Rd
+++ b/man/to_timecode.Rd
@@ -4,14 +4,15 @@
 \alias{from_timecode}
 \title{SMPTE timecode conversions}
 \usage{
-to_timecode(rt, rate, drop_frame = -1L)
+to_timecode(rt, rate = NULL, drop_frame = -1L)
 
 from_timecode(timecode, rate)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{rt}{A \code{RationalTime}.}
 
-\item{rate}{Timecode rate.}
+\item{rate}{Timecode rate. Defaults to the \code{RationalTime}'s own rate
+(OTIO's no-rate \code{to_timecode} overload).}
 
 \item{drop_frame}{-1 infer, 0 force non-drop, 1 force drop-frame.}