How to set a default value for a splat argument in Ruby

Setting a default value for a splat argument gives an error:

1.9.3-p374 :001 > def a b, *c = nil
1.9.3-p374 :002?>   end
SyntaxError: (irb):1: syntax error, unexpected '=', expecting ';' or '\n'
def a b, *c = nil
             ^
    from /Users/me/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p374/bin/irb:16:in `<main>'

Some variations I tried that don't work either:

1.9.3-p374 :003 > def a b, *c = []
1.9.3-p374 :005 > def a b, (*c) = nil
1.9.3-p374 :007 > def a b, (*c = [])
1.9.3-p374 :009 > def a b, (*c = [1,2,3])
1.9.3-p374 :011 > def a b, *c = [1,2,3]

I don't see an indeterminacy issue here, so it seems like it should be possible.

Related: Why non-explicit splat param plus default param is wrong syntax for method definition in Ruby 1.9?