diff --git a/src/v/config/configuration.cc b/src/v/config/configuration.cc
index 5621ee30f208a..ab172470dff1d 100644
--- a/src/v/config/configuration.cc
+++ b/src/v/config/configuration.cc
@@ -496,12 +496,12 @@ configuration::configuration()
   , target_quota_byte_rate(
       *this,
       "target_quota_byte_rate",
-      "Target request size quota byte rate (bytes per second) - 2GB default",
+      "Target request size quota byte rate (bytes per second)",
       {.needs_restart = needs_restart::no,
        .example = "1073741824",
        .visibility = visibility::user},
       target_produce_quota_byte_rate_default,
-      {.min = 1_MiB})
+      {.min = 0})
   , target_fetch_quota_byte_rate(
       *this,
       "target_fetch_quota_byte_rate",
diff --git a/src/v/config/configuration.h b/src/v/config/configuration.h
index 479b98c9345ba..92c65d77c7541 100644
--- a/src/v/config/configuration.h
+++ b/src/v/config/configuration.h
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ namespace config {
 /// can not depend on any other module to prevent cyclic dependencies.
 
 struct configuration final : public config_store {
-    constexpr static auto target_produce_quota_byte_rate_default = 2_GiB;
+    constexpr static auto target_produce_quota_byte_rate_default
+      = 0; // disabled
 
     // WAL
     bounded_property<uint64_t> log_segment_size;
diff --git a/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.cc b/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.cc
index 509cbc612472c..2140b691f101c 100644
--- a/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.cc
+++ b/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.cc
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 #include <seastar/core/shard_id.hh>
 #include <seastar/util/variant_utils.hh>
 
+#include <absl/algorithm/container.h>
+
+#include <optional>
+
 namespace kafka {
 
 using cluster::client_quota::entity_key;
@@ -292,8 +296,11 @@ client_quota_translator::get_quota_config(client_quota_type qt) const {
 std::optional<uint64_t>
 client_quota_translator::get_default_config(client_quota_type qt) const {
     switch (qt) {
-    case kafka::client_quota_type::produce_quota:
-        return _default_target_produce_tp_rate();
+    case kafka::client_quota_type::produce_quota: {
+        auto produce_quota = _default_target_produce_tp_rate();
+        return (produce_quota > 0) ? std::make_optional<uint64_t>(produce_quota)
+                                   : std::nullopt;
+    }
     case kafka::client_quota_type::fetch_quota:
         return _default_target_fetch_tp_rate();
     case kafka::client_quota_type::partition_mutation_quota:
@@ -325,4 +332,11 @@ void client_quota_translator::maybe_log_deprecated_configs_nag() const {
     }
 }
 
+bool client_quota_translator::is_empty() const {
+    return _quota_store.local().size() == 0
+           && absl::c_all_of(all_client_quota_types, [this](auto qt) {
+                  return !get_default_config(qt);
+              });
+}
+
 } // namespace kafka
diff --git a/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.h b/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.h
index f47c1b397ea29..e0e8a019cd840 100644
--- a/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.h
+++ b/src/v/kafka/server/client_quota_translator.h
@@ -141,6 +141,9 @@ class client_quota_translator {
     /// `watch` can be used to register for quota changes
     void watch(on_change_fn&& fn);
 
+    /// Returns true if there are no quotas configured
+    bool is_empty() const;
+
 private:
     using quota_config
       = std::unordered_map<ss::sstring, config::client_group_quota>;
diff --git a/src/v/kafka/server/quota_manager.cc b/src/v/kafka/server/quota_manager.cc
index 96a135bf1fd6e..085a32d483b32 100644
--- a/src/v/kafka/server/quota_manager.cc
+++ b/src/v/kafka/server/quota_manager.cc
@@ -320,6 +320,9 @@ ss::future<std::chrono::milliseconds> quota_manager::record_partition_mutations(
     /// KIP-599 throttles create_topics / delete_topics / create_partitions
     /// request. This delay should only be applied to these requests if the
     /// quota has been exceeded
+    if (_translator.is_empty()) {
+        co_return 0ms;
+    }
     auto ctx = client_quota_request_ctx{
       .q_type = client_quota_type::partition_mutation_quota,
       .client_id = client_id,
@@ -391,6 +394,9 @@ ss::future<clock::duration> quota_manager::record_produce_tp_and_throttle(
   std::optional<std::string_view> client_id,
   uint64_t bytes,
   clock::time_point now) {
+    if (_translator.is_empty()) {
+        co_return 0ms;
+    }
     auto ctx = client_quota_request_ctx{
       .q_type = client_quota_type::produce_quota,
       .client_id = client_id,
@@ -440,6 +446,9 @@ ss::future<> quota_manager::record_fetch_tp(
   std::optional<std::string_view> client_id,
   uint64_t bytes,
   clock::time_point now) {
+    if (_translator.is_empty()) {
+        co_return;
+    }
     auto ctx = client_quota_request_ctx{
       .q_type = client_quota_type::fetch_quota,
       .client_id = client_id,
@@ -469,6 +478,9 @@ ss::future<> quota_manager::record_fetch_tp(
 
 ss::future<clock::duration> quota_manager::throttle_fetch_tp(
   std::optional<std::string_view> client_id, clock::time_point now) {
+    if (_translator.is_empty()) {
+        co_return 0ms;
+    }
     auto ctx = client_quota_request_ctx{
       .q_type = client_quota_type::fetch_quota,
       .client_id = client_id,
diff --git a/src/v/kafka/server/tests/client_quota_translator_test.cc b/src/v/kafka/server/tests/client_quota_translator_test.cc
index f3ebe29e5cabe..d7808b66983d0 100644
--- a/src/v/kafka/server/tests/client_quota_translator_test.cc
+++ b/src/v/kafka/server/tests/client_quota_translator_test.cc
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ SEASTAR_THREAD_TEST_CASE(quota_translator_default_test) {
     fixture f;
 
     auto default_limits = client_quota_limits{
-      .produce_limit = scale_to_smp_count(2147483648),
+      .produce_limit = std::nullopt,
       .fetch_limit = std::nullopt,
       .partition_mutation_limit = std::nullopt,
     };
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ SEASTAR_THREAD_TEST_CASE(quota_translator_default_test) {
     auto limits = f.tr.find_quota_value(key);
     BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(test_client_id_key, key);
     BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(default_limits, limits);
+    BOOST_CHECK(f.tr.is_empty());
 }
 
 SEASTAR_THREAD_TEST_CASE(quota_translator_modified_default_test) {
@@ -116,6 +117,7 @@ SEASTAR_THREAD_TEST_CASE(quota_translator_modified_default_test) {
     auto limits = f.tr.find_quota_value(key);
     BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(test_client_id_key, key);
     BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(expected_limits, limits);
+    BOOST_CHECK(!f.tr.is_empty());
 }
 
 void run_quota_translator_client_group_test(fixture& f) {