diff --git a/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/ConfigDefaults.java b/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/ConfigDefaults.java
index c389eccbd95..7468bf0de96 100644
--- a/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/ConfigDefaults.java
+++ b/dd-trace-api/src/main/java/datadog/trace/api/ConfigDefaults.java
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ public final class ConfigDefaults {
   static final int DEFAULT_APPSEC_TRACE_RATE_LIMIT = 100;
   static final boolean DEFAULT_APPSEC_WAF_METRICS = true;
   static final int DEFAULT_APPSEC_WAF_TIMEOUT = 100000; // 0.1 s
-  static final boolean DEFAULT_API_SECURITY_ENABLED = false;
+  static final boolean DEFAULT_API_SECURITY_ENABLED = true;
   static final float DEFAULT_API_SECURITY_SAMPLE_DELAY = 30.0f;
   // TODO: change to true once the RFC is approved
   static final boolean DEFAULT_API_SECURITY_ENDPOINT_COLLECTION_ENABLED = false;