diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
index fdf8b3e9c77..b917f9578ab 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/config.sgml
@@ -1982,7 +1982,7 @@ include_dir 'conf.d'
         <para>
          Sets the maximum number of background processes that the system
          can support.  This parameter can only be set at server start.  The
-         default is 16.
+         default is 8.
         </para>
 
         <para>
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/init/globals.c b/src/backend/utils/init/globals.c
index 6ab03cea170..630c673cad4 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/init/globals.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/init/globals.c
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ int			replacement_sort_tuples = 150000;
  */
 int			NBuffers = 1000;
 int			MaxConnections = 90;
-int			max_worker_processes = 16;
+int			max_worker_processes = 8;
 int			max_parallel_workers = 8;
 int			MaxBackends = 0;
 
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
index 4e49d5b79cc..a02511754e9 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/misc/guc.c
@@ -2477,7 +2477,7 @@ static struct config_int ConfigureNamesInt[] =
 			NULL,
 		},
 		&max_worker_processes,
-		16, 0, MAX_BACKENDS,
+		8, 0, MAX_BACKENDS,
 		check_max_worker_processes, NULL, NULL
 	},
 
diff --git a/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample b/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
index 1f490c7de4f..7f9acfda067 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
+++ b/src/backend/utils/misc/postgresql.conf.sample
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@
 # - Asynchronous Behavior -
 
 #effective_io_concurrency = 1		# 1-1000; 0 disables prefetching
-#max_worker_processes = 16		# (change requires restart)
+#max_worker_processes = 8		# (change requires restart)
 #max_parallel_workers_per_gather = 2	# taken from max_worker_processes
 #max_parallel_workers = 8	    # total maximum number of worker_processes
 #old_snapshot_threshold = -1		# 1min-60d; -1 disables; 0 is immediate
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_resetxlog/pg_resetxlog.c b/src/bin/pg_resetxlog/pg_resetxlog.c
index 1beee7f8eb8..2b76f640797 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_resetxlog/pg_resetxlog.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_resetxlog/pg_resetxlog.c
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ GuessControlValues(void)
 	ControlFile.wal_log_hints = false;
 	ControlFile.track_commit_timestamp = false;
 	ControlFile.MaxConnections = 100;
-	ControlFile.max_worker_processes = 16;
+	ControlFile.max_worker_processes = 8;
 	ControlFile.max_prepared_xacts = 0;
 	ControlFile.max_locks_per_xact = 64;
 
@@ -800,7 +800,7 @@ RewriteControlFile(void)
 	ControlFile.wal_log_hints = false;
 	ControlFile.track_commit_timestamp = false;
 	ControlFile.MaxConnections = 100;
-	ControlFile.max_worker_processes = 16;
+	ControlFile.max_worker_processes = 8;
 	ControlFile.max_prepared_xacts = 0;
 	ControlFile.max_locks_per_xact = 64;