diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
index 2b762654bf..3d3d219e58 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ Performance and Compression Tuning
 
 --depth=<n>::
 	Maximum delta depth, for blob and tree deltification.
-	Default is 10.
+	Default is 50.
 
 --export-pack-edges=<file>::
 	After creating a packfile, print a line of data to
diff --git a/fast-import.c b/fast-import.c
index e69d219682..05c73858b0 100644
--- a/fast-import.c
+++ b/fast-import.c
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ struct recent_command {
 };
 
 /* Configured limits on output */
-static unsigned long max_depth = 10;
+static unsigned long max_depth = 50;
 static off_t max_packsize;
 static int unpack_limit = 100;
 static int force_update;