diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/options/RemoteOptions.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/options/RemoteOptions.java
index 86547ea217065c..cd5f89b77fc875 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/options/RemoteOptions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/options/RemoteOptions.java
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ public RemoteBuildEventUploadModeConverter() {
 
   @Option(
       name = "incompatible_remote_disallow_symlink_in_tree_artifact",
-      defaultValue = "false",
+      defaultValue = "true",
       documentationCategory = OptionDocumentationCategory.REMOTE,
       effectTags = {OptionEffectTag.EXECUTION},
       metadataTags = {OptionMetadataTag.INCOMPATIBLE_CHANGE},
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionServiceTest.java b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionServiceTest.java
index 61a16d74b33e13..56c919284e529f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionServiceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/remote/RemoteExecutionServiceTest.java
@@ -658,7 +658,9 @@ public void downloadOutputs_relativeSymlinkInDirectory_success() throws Exceptio
         RemoteActionResult.createFromCache(CachedActionResult.remote(builder.build()));
     Spawn spawn = newSpawnFromResult(result);
     FakeSpawnExecutionContext context = newSpawnExecutionContext(spawn);
-    RemoteExecutionService service = newRemoteExecutionService();
+    RemoteOptions remoteOptions = Options.getDefaults(RemoteOptions.class);
+    remoteOptions.incompatibleRemoteDisallowSymlinkInTreeArtifact = false;
+    RemoteExecutionService service = newRemoteExecutionService(remoteOptions);
     RemoteAction action = service.buildRemoteAction(spawn, context);
 
     // Doesn't check for dangling links, hence download succeeds.
diff --git a/src/test/shell/bazel/remote/remote_execution_test.sh b/src/test/shell/bazel/remote/remote_execution_test.sh
index c13cc6c800eeb8..0945e101a0c3bb 100755
--- a/src/test/shell/bazel/remote/remote_execution_test.sh
+++ b/src/test/shell/bazel/remote/remote_execution_test.sh
@@ -930,6 +930,7 @@ function test_symlinks_in_directory() {
     set_symlinks_in_directory_testfixtures
     bazel build \
           --incompatible_remote_symlinks \
+          --noincompatible_remote_disallow_symlink_in_tree_artifact \
           --remote_executor=grpc://localhost:${worker_port} \
           --spawn_strategy=remote \
           //:make-links &> $TEST_log \
@@ -950,6 +951,7 @@ function test_symlinks_in_directory_cache_only() {
     set_symlinks_in_directory_testfixtures
     bazel build \
           --incompatible_remote_symlinks \
+          --noincompatible_remote_disallow_symlink_in_tree_artifact \
           --remote_cache=grpc://localhost:${worker_port} \
           --spawn_strategy=local \
           //:make-links &> $TEST_log \
@@ -958,6 +960,7 @@ function test_symlinks_in_directory_cache_only() {
     bazel clean # Get rid of local results, rely on remote cache.
     bazel build \
           --incompatible_remote_symlinks \
+          --noincompatible_remote_disallow_symlink_in_tree_artifact \
           --remote_cache=grpc://localhost:${worker_port} \
           --spawn_strategy=local \
           //:make-links &> $TEST_log \
@@ -2319,12 +2322,12 @@ EOF
   bazel build \
       --spawn_strategy=remote \
       --remote_executor=grpc://localhost:${worker_port} \
+      --noincompatible_remote_disallow_symlink_in_tree_artifact \
       //pkg:tree &>$TEST_log || fail "Expected build to succeed"
 
   bazel clean
 
   bazel build \
-      --incompatible_remote_disallow_symlink_in_tree_artifact \
       --spawn_strategy=remote \
       --remote_executor=grpc://localhost:${worker_port} \
       //pkg:tree &>$TEST_log && fail "Expected build to fail"