diff --git a/redis.conf b/redis.conf
index 39e21b5e7e091cac6d8f2aa01eb31f05adafa130..c4bf60222848901acb0ab9fd62c0b08bc3023437 100644
--- a/redis.conf
+++ b/redis.conf
@@ -1623,10 +1623,6 @@ rdb-save-incremental-fsync yes
 
 ########################### ACTIVE DEFRAGMENTATION #######################
 #
-# WARNING THIS FEATURE IS EXPERIMENTAL. However it was stress tested
-# even in production and manually tested by multiple engineers for some
-# time.
-#
 # What is active defragmentation?
 # -------------------------------
 #
@@ -1666,7 +1662,7 @@ rdb-save-incremental-fsync yes
 # a good idea to leave the defaults untouched.
 
 # Enabled active defragmentation
-# activedefrag yes
+# activedefrag no
 
 # Minimum amount of fragmentation waste to start active defrag
 # active-defrag-ignore-bytes 100mb
@@ -1677,11 +1673,13 @@ rdb-save-incremental-fsync yes
 # Maximum percentage of fragmentation at which we use maximum effort
 # active-defrag-threshold-upper 100
 
-# Minimal effort for defrag in CPU percentage
-# active-defrag-cycle-min 5
+# Minimal effort for defrag in CPU percentage, to be used when the lower
+# threshold is reached
+# active-defrag-cycle-min 1
 
-# Maximal effort for defrag in CPU percentage
-# active-defrag-cycle-max 75
+# Maximal effort for defrag in CPU percentage, to be used when the upper
+# threshold is reached
+# active-defrag-cycle-max 25
 
 # Maximum number of set/hash/zset/list fields that will be processed from
 # the main dictionary scan
diff --git a/src/defrag.c b/src/defrag.c
index e794c8e418c46685cf6070cf681c3804e624724e..04e57955be8e8a7369778146ac5f0167ba6b396b 100644
--- a/src/defrag.c
+++ b/src/defrag.c
@@ -919,10 +919,12 @@ int defragLaterItem(dictEntry *de, unsigned long *cursor, long long endtime) {
     return 0;
 }
 
+/* static variables serving defragLaterStep to continue scanning a key from were we stopped last time. */
+static sds defrag_later_current_key = NULL;
+static unsigned long defrag_later_cursor = 0;
+
 /* returns 0 if no more work needs to be been done, and 1 if time is up and more work is needed. */
 int defragLaterStep(redisDb *db, long long endtime) {
-    static sds current_key = NULL;
-    static unsigned long cursor = 0;
     unsigned int iterations = 0;
     unsigned long long prev_defragged = server.stat_active_defrag_hits;
     unsigned long long prev_scanned = server.stat_active_defrag_scanned;
@@ -930,16 +932,15 @@ int defragLaterStep(redisDb *db, long long endtime) {
 
     do {
         /* if we're not continuing a scan from the last call or loop, start a new one */
-        if (!cursor) {
+        if (!defrag_later_cursor) {
             listNode *head = listFirst(db->defrag_later);
 
             /* Move on to next key */
-            if (current_key) {
-                serverAssert(current_key == head->value);
-                sdsfree(head->value);
+            if (defrag_later_current_key) {
+                serverAssert(defrag_later_current_key == head->value);
                 listDelNode(db->defrag_later, head);
-                cursor = 0;
-                current_key = NULL;
+                defrag_later_cursor = 0;
+                defrag_later_current_key = NULL;
             }
 
             /* stop if we reached the last one. */
@@ -948,21 +949,21 @@ int defragLaterStep(redisDb *db, long long endtime) {
                 return 0;
 
             /* start a new key */
-            current_key = head->value;
-            cursor = 0;
+            defrag_later_current_key = head->value;
+            defrag_later_cursor = 0;
         }
 
         /* each time we enter this function we need to fetch the key from the dict again (if it still exists) */
-        dictEntry *de = dictFind(db->dict, current_key);
+        dictEntry *de = dictFind(db->dict, defrag_later_current_key);
         key_defragged = server.stat_active_defrag_hits;
         do {
             int quit = 0;
-            if (defragLaterItem(de, &cursor, endtime))
+            if (defragLaterItem(de, &defrag_later_cursor, endtime))
                 quit = 1; /* time is up, we didn't finish all the work */
 
             /* Don't start a new BIG key in this loop, this is because the
              * next key can be a list, and scanLaterList must be done in once cycle */
-            if (!cursor)
+            if (!defrag_later_cursor)
                 quit = 1;
 
             /* Once in 16 scan iterations, 512 pointer reallocations, or 64 fields
@@ -982,7 +983,7 @@ int defragLaterStep(redisDb *db, long long endtime) {
                 prev_defragged = server.stat_active_defrag_hits;
                 prev_scanned = server.stat_active_defrag_scanned;
             }
-        } while(cursor);
+        } while(defrag_later_cursor);
         if(key_defragged != server.stat_active_defrag_hits)
             server.stat_active_defrag_key_hits++;
         else
@@ -1039,6 +1040,21 @@ void activeDefragCycle(void) {
     mstime_t latency;
     int quit = 0;
 
+    if (!server.active_defrag_enabled) {
+        if (server.active_defrag_running) {
+            /* if active defrag was disabled mid-run, start from fresh next time. */
+            server.active_defrag_running = 0;
+            if (db)
+                listEmpty(db->defrag_later);
+            defrag_later_current_key = NULL;
+            defrag_later_cursor = 0;
+            current_db = -1;
+            cursor = 0;
+            db = NULL;
+        }
+        return;
+    }
+
     if (hasActiveChildProcess())
         return; /* Defragging memory while there's a fork will just do damage. */
 
diff --git a/src/server.c b/src/server.c
index 2e9a329ddf26aa6cea4581c8000a19a0d334d918..493605527ea0833f74d60218b83389932839fd73 100644
--- a/src/server.c
+++ b/src/server.c
@@ -1691,8 +1691,7 @@ void databasesCron(void) {
     }
 
     /* Defrag keys gradually. */
-    if (server.active_defrag_enabled)
-        activeDefragCycle();
+    activeDefragCycle();
 
     /* Perform hash tables rehashing if needed, but only if there are no
      * other processes saving the DB on disk. Otherwise rehashing is bad
@@ -2857,6 +2856,7 @@ void initServer(void) {
         server.db[j].id = j;
         server.db[j].avg_ttl = 0;
         server.db[j].defrag_later = listCreate();
+        listSetFreeMethod(server.db[j].defrag_later,(void (*)(void*))sdsfree);
     }
     evictionPoolAlloc(); /* Initialize the LRU keys pool. */
     server.pubsub_channels = dictCreate(&keylistDictType,NULL);
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index ad47fe80b794f8dec336e7708f01bcae2eeeebad..4682c0d96c2c9dd9703bc70bc19a059093020cad 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -174,8 +174,8 @@ typedef long long ustime_t; /* microsecond time type. */
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_THRESHOLD_LOWER 10 /* don't defrag when fragmentation is below 10% */
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_THRESHOLD_UPPER 100 /* maximum defrag force at 100% fragmentation */
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_IGNORE_BYTES (100<<20) /* don't defrag if frag overhead is below 100mb */
-#define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_CYCLE_MIN 5 /* 5% CPU min (at lower threshold) */
-#define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_CYCLE_MAX 75 /* 75% CPU max (at upper threshold) */
+#define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_CYCLE_MIN 1 /* 1% CPU min (at lower threshold) */
+#define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_CYCLE_MAX 25 /* 25% CPU max (at upper threshold) */
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_DEFRAG_MAX_SCAN_FIELDS 1000 /* keys with more than 1000 fields will be processed separately */
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_PROTO_MAX_BULK_LEN (512ll*1024*1024) /* Bulk request max size */
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_TRACKING_TABLE_MAX_FILL 10 /* 10% tracking table max fill. */