diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index d5f52daf4bca9e505adb8dfa0ec4a15ea871c008..51a09dd2981062c13b62fe8ccdd98d6869f7bb34 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ Obviously, you can't set repository or package file location with this method.
   <td>Configuration for lock file maintenance</td>
   <td>json</td>
   <td><pre>{
-  "enabled": true,
+  "enabled": false,
   "recreateClosed": true,
   "branchName": "{{branchPrefix}}lock-file-maintenance",
   "commitMessage": "Update lock file",
diff --git a/lib/config/definitions.js b/lib/config/definitions.js
index 50b49c29225ee0c85ba8773b60ba8c7a534a736d..9424d974b8ccb93b5243e62721f8ed125bfa7ed9 100644
--- a/lib/config/definitions.js
+++ b/lib/config/definitions.js
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ const options = [
     stage: 'packageFile',
     type: 'json',
     default: {
-      enabled: true,
+      enabled: false,
       recreateClosed: true,
       branchName: template('branchName', 'lock-file-maintenance'),
       commitMessage: template('commitMessage', 'lock-file-maintenance'),
diff --git a/test/config/__snapshots__/index.spec.js.snap b/test/config/__snapshots__/index.spec.js.snap
index 3fade9624ae1153fd84783f452bcae4951afb60b..0ed3ce4eb7e518d720fbe65bfffc01ba0cbf88a0 100644
--- a/test/config/__snapshots__/index.spec.js.snap
+++ b/test/config/__snapshots__/index.spec.js.snap
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ exports[`config/index mergeChildConfig(parentConfig, childConfig) merges 1`] = `
 Object {
   "branchName": "{{branchPrefix}}lock-file-maintenance",
   "commitMessage": "Update lock file",
-  "enabled": true,
+  "enabled": false,
   "groupName": null,
   "prBody": "This {{#if isGitHub}}Pull{{else}}Merge{{/if}} Request updates \`package.json\` lock files to use the latest dependency versions.
 
diff --git a/test/workers/package-file/index.spec.js b/test/workers/package-file/index.spec.js
index 248b1b7b93da5f4760aa874eeb46fa3482b06251..9dae27fae2aabd2379866c5be90133082697b9a2 100644
--- a/test/workers/package-file/index.spec.js
+++ b/test/workers/package-file/index.spec.js
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ describe('packageFileWorker', () => {
       expect(res).toHaveLength(0);
     });
     it('maintains lock files', async () => {
+      config.lockFileMaintenance.enabled = true;
       config.yarnLock = '# some yarn lock';
       const res = await packageFileWorker.renovatePackageFile(config);
       expect(res).toHaveLength(1);