diff --git a/crates/wit-component/src/metadata.rs b/crates/wit-component/src/metadata.rs
index 235afb5fa0..0bd1d5b2b2 100644
--- a/crates/wit-component/src/metadata.rs
+++ b/crates/wit-component/src/metadata.rs
@@ -191,8 +191,8 @@ pub fn encode(
         Some(true) => EncodingFormat::Next,
         Some(false) => EncodingFormat::Previous,
         None => match std::env::var("WIT_COMPONENT_NEW_ENCODE") {
-            Ok(s) if s == "1" => EncodingFormat::Next,
-            _ => EncodingFormat::Previous,
+            Ok(s) if s == "0" => EncodingFormat::Previous,
+            _ => EncodingFormat::Next,
         },
     };