diff --git a/monasca_persister/conf/kafka_common.py b/monasca_persister/conf/kafka_common.py
index 2877adff..957795f8 100644
--- a/monasca_persister/conf/kafka_common.py
+++ b/monasca_persister/conf/kafka_common.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ kafka_common_opts = [
                      'kafka-python library is used. Message format version '
                      'for the brokers should be set to 0.9.0.0 to avoid '
                      'performance issues until all consumers are upgraded.',
-                default=True)
+                default=False)
 ]
 
 kafka_common_group = cfg.OptGroup(name='kafka',
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/disable-legacy-kafka-client-ff7181b387aaf536.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/disable-legacy-kafka-client-ff7181b387aaf536.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3a51e7d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/disable-legacy-kafka-client-ff7181b387aaf536.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+upgrade:
+  - |
+    The default value of ``kafka_common.legacy_kafka_client_enabled`` has
+    changed from ``True`` to ``False``. The use of new Confluent Kafka
+    client is recommended.