diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataCreateIndexService.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataCreateIndexService.java
index d1fb0297642be..eb4e39b54c241 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataCreateIndexService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/cluster/metadata/MetadataCreateIndexService.java
@@ -1926,7 +1926,7 @@ public static void validateStoreTypeSetting(Settings indexSettings) {
     }
 
     public static boolean useRefreshBlock(Settings settings) {
-        return DiscoveryNode.isStateless(settings) && settings.getAsBoolean(USE_INDEX_REFRESH_BLOCK_SETTING_NAME, false);
+        return DiscoveryNode.isStateless(settings) && settings.getAsBoolean(USE_INDEX_REFRESH_BLOCK_SETTING_NAME, true);
     }
 
     static ClusterBlocksTransformer createClusterBlocksTransformerForIndexCreation(Settings settings) {