diff --git a/xla/debug_options_flags.cc b/xla/debug_options_flags.cc
index 8c62942f2742e..277e8a3f75982 100644
--- a/xla/debug_options_flags.cc
+++ b/xla/debug_options_flags.cc
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ DebugOptions DefaultDebugOptionsIgnoringFlags() {
   opts.set_xla_gpu_cudnn_gemm_fusion_level(0);
   opts.set_xla_gpu_enable_while_loop_double_buffering(false);
   opts.set_xla_gpu_enable_while_loop_unrolling(
-      DebugOptions::WHILE_LOOP_UNROLLING_NO_UNROLL);
+      DebugOptions::WHILE_LOOP_UNROLLING_AUTO_UNROLL);
   opts.set_xla_gpu_ensure_minor_dot_contraction_dims(false);
   opts.set_xla_gpu_filter_kernels_spilling_registers_on_autotuning(true);
   opts.set_xla_gpu_llvm_verification_level(0);