diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index b60b91ec43..706064d42c 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ akka {
     # Should the 'leader' in the cluster be allowed to automatically mark unreachable nodes as DOWN?
     # Using auto-down implies that two separate clusters will automatically be formed in case of
     # network partition.
-    auto-down = on
+    auto-down = off
 
     # the number of gossip daemon actors
     nr-of-gossip-daemons = 4
diff --git a/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala b/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala
index 07671c6164..9c52a29773 100644
--- a/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/ClusterConfigSpec.scala
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class ClusterConfigSpec extends AkkaSpec {
       JoinTimeout must be(60 seconds)
       NrOfGossipDaemons must be(4)
       AutoJoin must be(true)
-      AutoDown must be(true)
+      AutoDown must be(false)
       GossipDifferentViewProbability must be(0.8 plusOrMinus 0.0001)
       SchedulerTickDuration must be(33 millis)
       SchedulerTicksPerWheel must be(512)