diff --git a/etc/nova/nova.conf.sample b/etc/nova/nova.conf.sample
index 9a760cf3a6..2851276d05 100644
--- a/etc/nova/nova.conf.sample
+++ b/etc/nova/nova.conf.sample
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@
 
 # whether to use per-user rate limiting for the api. (boolean
 # value)
-#api_rate_limit=true
+#api_rate_limit=false
 
 # The strategy to use for auth: noauth or keystone. (string
 # value)
diff --git a/nova/api/auth.py b/nova/api/auth.py
index 6b85a9de67..aad8ebfa07 100644
--- a/nova/api/auth.py
+++ b/nova/api/auth.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ from nova import wsgi
 
 auth_opts = [
     cfg.BoolOpt('api_rate_limit',
-                default=True,
+                default=False,
                 help='whether to use per-user rate limiting for the api.'),
     cfg.StrOpt('auth_strategy',
                default='noauth',