diff --git a/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md b/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
index 1b61e7dab..d13bcd1c3 100644
--- a/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
+++ b/Documentation/Getting-Started/Configuration-Guide.md
@@ -1871,11 +1871,14 @@ larger than 0.
 
 ### `ssl_verify_peer_certificate`
 
-Peer certificate verification. This functionality is enabled by default.
+Peer certificate verification. This functionality is disabled by default. In
+versions prior to 2.3.17 the feature was enabled by default.
 
-When this feature is enabled, the certificate sent by the peer is verified
-against the configured Certificate Authority. If you are using self-signed
-certificates, set `ssl_verify_peer_certificate=false`.
+When this feature is enabled, the peer must send a certificate. The certificate
+sent by the peer is verified against the configured Certificate Authority to
+make sure the peer is who they claim to be. For listeners, this behaves as if
+`REQUIRE X509` was defined for all users. For servers, this behaves like the
+`--ssl-verify-server-cert` command line option for the `mysql` client.
 
 #### Example SSL enabled server configuration
 
diff --git a/server/core/config.cc b/server/core/config.cc
index 080b469e0..67f5d4ece 100644
--- a/server/core/config.cc
+++ b/server/core/config.cc
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ const MXS_MODULE_PARAM config_listener_params[] =
      MXS_MODULE_OPT_ENUM_UNIQUE,
      ssl_version_values},
     {CN_SSL_CERT_VERIFY_DEPTH,       MXS_MODULE_PARAM_COUNT,   "9"},
-    {CN_SSL_VERIFY_PEER_CERTIFICATE, MXS_MODULE_PARAM_BOOL,    "true"},
+    {CN_SSL_VERIFY_PEER_CERTIFICATE, MXS_MODULE_PARAM_BOOL,    "false"},
     {NULL}
 };
 
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ const MXS_MODULE_PARAM config_server_params[] =
      MXS_MODULE_OPT_ENUM_UNIQUE,
      ssl_version_values},
     {CN_SSL_CERT_VERIFY_DEPTH,       MXS_MODULE_PARAM_COUNT,  "9"},
-    {CN_SSL_VERIFY_PEER_CERTIFICATE, MXS_MODULE_PARAM_BOOL,   "true"},
+    {CN_SSL_VERIFY_PEER_CERTIFICATE, MXS_MODULE_PARAM_BOOL,   "false"},
     {CN_DISK_SPACE_THRESHOLD,        MXS_MODULE_PARAM_STRING},
     {NULL}
 };