diff --git a/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs b/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs
index c95a98fbc7..e66ee0ae36 100644
--- a/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs
+++ b/pageserver/src/tenant/config.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@ pub mod defaults {
     pub const DEFAULT_COMPACTION_THRESHOLD: usize = 10;
 
     pub const DEFAULT_GC_HORIZON: u64 = 64 * 1024 * 1024;
-    pub const DEFAULT_GC_PERIOD: &str = "100 s";
+
+    // Large DEFAULT_GC_PERIOD is fine as long as PITR_INTERVAL is larger.
+    // If there's a need to decrease this value, first make sure that GC
+    // doesn't hold a layer map write lock for non-trivial operations.
+    // Relevant: https://github.com/neondatabase/neon/issues/3394
+    pub const DEFAULT_GC_PERIOD: &str = "1 hr";
     pub const DEFAULT_IMAGE_CREATION_THRESHOLD: usize = 3;
     pub const DEFAULT_PITR_INTERVAL: &str = "7 days";
     pub const DEFAULT_WALRECEIVER_CONNECT_TIMEOUT: &str = "2 seconds";
diff --git a/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_conf.py b/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_conf.py
index 29cdcb18ce..f6a7977c32 100644
--- a/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_conf.py
+++ b/test_runner/regress/test_tenant_conf.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ tenant_config={checkpoint_distance = 10000, compaction_target_size = 1048576}"""
                     "compaction_period": 20,
                     "compaction_threshold": 10,
                     "gc_horizon": 67108864,
-                    "gc_period": 100,
+                    "gc_period": 60 * 60,
                     "image_creation_threshold": 3,
                     "pitr_interval": 604800,  # 7 days
                 }.items()