diff --git a/servers/slapd/overlays/ppolicy.c b/servers/slapd/overlays/ppolicy.c
index 58a91cdb9f..e2fc9a5596 100644
--- a/servers/slapd/overlays/ppolicy.c
+++ b/servers/slapd/overlays/ppolicy.c
@@ -477,6 +477,8 @@ ppolicy_get_default( PassPolicy *pp )
 
 	/* Users can change their own password by default */
 	pp->pwdAllowUserChange = 1;
+	if ( !pp->pwdMaxRecordedFailure )
+		pp->pwdMaxRecordedFailure = PPOLICY_DEFAULT_MAXRECORDED_FAILURE;
 }