diff --git a/footer.php b/footer.php
index 038deeb..48b2822 100644
--- a/footer.php
+++ b/footer.php
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
     <footer id="content-info" class="<?php global $roots_options; echo $roots_options['container_class']; ?>" role="contentinfo">
       <?php roots_footer_inside(); ?>
       <div class="container">
-        <?php dynamic_sidebar("Footer"); ?>
+        <?php dynamic_sidebar('roots-footer'); ?>
         <p class="copy"><small>&copy; <?php echo date('Y'); ?> <?php bloginfo('name'); ?></small></p>
       </div>
     </footer>
diff --git a/functions.php b/functions.php
index 68b65fe..40bd5a2 100644
--- a/functions.php
+++ b/functions.php
@@ -65,17 +65,36 @@ function roots_setup() {
 
 add_action('after_setup_theme', 'roots_setup');
 
-// create widget areas: sidebar, footer
-$sidebars = array('Sidebar', 'Footer');
-foreach ($sidebars as $sidebar) {
-  register_sidebar(array('name'=> $sidebar,
-    'before_widget' => '<article id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s"><div class="container">',
-    'after_widget' => '</div></article>',
-    'before_title' => '<h3>',
-    'after_title' => '</h3>'
-  ));
+/**
+ * Register default roots sidebars.
+ * Hook into 'widgets_init' function with a lower priority in your child
+ * theme to remove these sidebars.
+ */
+function roots_register_sidebars() {
+  register_sidebar(
+    array(
+      'id'=> 'roots-sidebar',  
+      'name' => __('Sidebar', 'roots'),
+      'description' => __('Sidebar', 'roots'),
+      'before_widget' => '<article id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s"><div class="container">',
+      'after_widget' => '</div></article>',
+      'before_title' => '<h3>',
+      'after_title' => '</h3>'
+    ));
+  register_sidebar(
+    array(
+      'id'=> 'roots-footer',  
+      'name' => __('Footer', 'roots'),
+      'description' => __('Footer', 'roots'),
+      'before_widget' => '<article id="%1$s" class="widget %2$s"><div class="container">',
+      'after_widget' => '</div></article>',
+      'before_title' => '<h3>',
+      'after_title' => '</h3>'
+    ));
 }
 
+add_action( 'widgets_init', 'roots_register_sidebars' );
+
 // return post entry meta information
 function roots_entry_meta() {
   echo '<time class="updated" datetime="'. get_the_time('c') .'" pubdate>'. sprintf(__('Posted on %s at %s.', 'roots'), get_the_time('l, F jS, Y'), get_the_time()) .'</time>';
diff --git a/sidebar.php b/sidebar.php
index bef548c..0567eeb 100644
--- a/sidebar.php
+++ b/sidebar.php
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<?php dynamic_sidebar("Sidebar"); ?>
\ No newline at end of file
+<?php dynamic_sidebar('roots-sidebar'); ?>
\ No newline at end of file