diff --git a/layers/+lang/emacs-lisp/packages.el b/layers/+lang/emacs-lisp/packages.el
index 5abac8b914d5..dd07f83d9d0c 100644
--- a/layers/+lang/emacs-lisp/packages.el
+++ b/layers/+lang/emacs-lisp/packages.el
@@ -200,8 +200,10 @@
 
 (defun emacs-lisp/post-init-semantic ()
   (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'semantic-mode)
-  (with-eval-after-load 'semantic
-    (semantic-default-elisp-setup)))
+  (semantic-default-elisp-setup)
+  (setq-mode-local emacs-lisp-mode
+                   semanticdb-find-default-throttle
+                   '(file local project unloaded system recursive)))
 
 (defun emacs-lisp/post-init-srefactor ()
   (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'spacemacs/lazy-load-srefactor)