diff --git a/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c b/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c
index 05f6804a8d0f..59340b307d0c 100644
--- a/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c
+++ b/sys/kern/kern_shutdown.c
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ SYSCTL_INT(_debug, OID_AUTO, trace_on_panic, CTLFLAG_RW,
 	&trace_on_panic, 0, "Print stack trace on kernel panic");
 #endif /* KDB */
 
-int sync_on_panic = 1;
+int sync_on_panic = 0;
 SYSCTL_INT(_kern, OID_AUTO, sync_on_panic, CTLFLAG_RW,
 	&sync_on_panic, 0, "Do a sync before rebooting from a panic");