diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index 5422c438826254f36d1e00af0e8b882690661276..869cca7536625976e958c48b3c04d1f4bfdcacbb 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 #endif
 
 static int diff_detect_rename_default;
-static int diff_rename_limit_default = 200;
+static int diff_rename_limit_default = 400;
 static int diff_suppress_blank_empty;
 int diff_use_color_default = -1;
 static const char *diff_word_regex_cfg;
diff --git a/merge-recursive.c b/merge-recursive.c
index 2ecd456c28e435572916c304d432dc4dd2ca12c2..089aa10cc1df7e8ad129471ed1b027843d057800 100644
--- a/merge-recursive.c
+++ b/merge-recursive.c
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ static struct string_list *get_renames(struct merge_options *o,
 	opts.detect_rename = DIFF_DETECT_RENAME;
 	opts.rename_limit = o->merge_rename_limit >= 0 ? o->merge_rename_limit :
 			    o->diff_rename_limit >= 0 ? o->diff_rename_limit :
-			    500;
+			    1000;
 	opts.rename_score = o->rename_score;
 	opts.output_format = DIFF_FORMAT_NO_OUTPUT;
 	if (diff_setup_done(&opts) < 0)