diff --git a/src/config-schema.coffee b/src/config-schema.coffee
index 32802a134..5d13b8feb 100644
--- a/src/config-schema.coffee
+++ b/src/config-schema.coffee
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ module.exports =
         title: 'Exclude VCS Ignored Paths'
       followSymlinks:
         type: 'boolean'
-        default: true
+        default: false
         title: 'Follow symlinks'
         description: 'Used when searching and when opening files with the fuzzy finder.'
       disabledPackages: