diff --git a/lib/config/options/index.ts b/lib/config/options/index.ts
index 853c61fee9e8f3217c07e4ed74ba40b3e1f491ba..71413beedcae4d5df3c5a0429317241d2947923b 100644
--- a/lib/config/options/index.ts
+++ b/lib/config/options/index.ts
@@ -1486,7 +1486,7 @@ const options: RenovateOptions[] = [
     description: 'When and how to filter based on internal checks.',
     type: 'string',
     allowedValues: ['strict', 'flexible', 'none'],
-    default: 'none',
+    default: 'strict',
   },
   {
     name: 'prCreation',
diff --git a/lib/workers/repository/process/lookup/filter-checks.spec.ts b/lib/workers/repository/process/lookup/filter-checks.spec.ts
index 3fab3d1c754cd9d5d57f17283084f89a8883c37d..5802aced0e1fe6d98f34b773cb4b8a4d998c58b2 100644
--- a/lib/workers/repository/process/lookup/filter-checks.spec.ts
+++ b/lib/workers/repository/process/lookup/filter-checks.spec.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ describe('workers/repository/process/lookup/filter-checks', () => {
 
   describe('.filterInternalChecks()', () => {
     it('returns latest release if internalChecksFilter=none', async () => {
+      config.internalChecksFilter = 'none';
       const res = await filterInternalChecks(
         config,
         versioning,