diff --git a/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs b/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
index e71fc14a35..177bf1f53a 100644
--- a/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
+++ b/libs/pageserver_api/src/config.rs
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ pub mod defaults {
     pub const DEFAULT_IO_BUFFER_ALIGNMENT: usize = 512;
 
     pub const DEFAULT_WAL_RECEIVER_PROTOCOL: utils::postgres_client::PostgresClientProtocol =
-        utils::postgres_client::PostgresClientProtocol::Vanilla;
+        utils::postgres_client::PostgresClientProtocol::Interpreted;
 }
 
 impl Default for ConfigToml {