diff --git a/include/pika_conf.h b/include/pika_conf.h
index e65cd9a132..92ec11c74b 100644
--- a/include/pika_conf.h
+++ b/include/pika_conf.h
@@ -706,7 +706,7 @@ class PikaConf : public pstd::BaseConf {
   bool cache_index_and_filter_blocks_ = false;
   bool pin_l0_filter_and_index_blocks_in_cache_ = false;
   bool optimize_filters_for_hits_ = false;
-  bool level_compaction_dynamic_level_bytes_ = false;
+  bool level_compaction_dynamic_level_bytes_ = true;
   int64_t rate_limiter_bandwidth_ = 0;
   int64_t rate_limiter_refill_period_us_ = 0;
   int64_t rate_limiter_fairness_ = 0;
diff --git a/src/pika_conf.cc b/src/pika_conf.cc
index 007d7490d7..66d035f6e0 100644
--- a/src/pika_conf.cc
+++ b/src/pika_conf.cc
@@ -536,7 +536,7 @@ int PikaConf::Load() {
 
   std::string lcdlb;
   GetConfStr("level-compaction-dynamic-level-bytes", &lcdlb);
-  level_compaction_dynamic_level_bytes_ = lcdlb == "yes";
+  level_compaction_dynamic_level_bytes_ = lcdlb == "yes" || lcdlb.empty();
 
   // daemonize
   std::string dmz;