diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/package.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/package.scala
index 71a11f6d45018..ed7c640d742dc 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/package.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/internal/config/package.scala
@@ -1739,7 +1739,7 @@ package object config {
         "the codec")
       .version("0.8.0")
       .stringConf
-      .createWithDefaultString("lz4")
+      .createWithDefaultString("zstd")
 
   private[spark] val IO_COMPRESSION_ZSTD_BUFFERSIZE =
     ConfigBuilder("spark.io.compression.zstd.bufferSize")
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index 89871cbd3bf39..cad5a7a8b2386 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -1452,7 +1452,7 @@ Apart from these, the following properties are also available, and may be useful
 </tr>
 <tr>
   <td><code>spark.io.compression.codec</code></td>
-  <td>lz4</td>
+  <td>zstd</td>
   <td>
     The codec used to compress internal data such as RDD partitions, event log, broadcast variables
     and shuffle outputs. By default, Spark provides four codecs: <code>lz4</code>, <code>lzf</code>,