diff --git a/src/v/config/configuration.cc b/src/v/config/configuration.cc
index 2a19c6902495b..5843a8daa157b 100644
--- a/src/v/config/configuration.cc
+++ b/src/v/config/configuration.cc
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ configuration::configuration()
       "cannot change. When the total size of cached requests reaches the set "
       "limit, back pressure is applied to throttle producers.",
       {.needs_restart = needs_restart::no, .visibility = visibility::tunable},
-      512_KiB,
+      0,
       {.min = 0, .max = 100_MiB})
   , enable_usage(
       *this,