diff --git a/datafusion/common/src/config.rs b/datafusion/common/src/config.rs
index 449ce22693d35..e35c4243b5605 100644
--- a/datafusion/common/src/config.rs
+++ b/datafusion/common/src/config.rs
@@ -436,7 +436,8 @@ config_namespace! {
         /// bytes of the parquet file optimistically. If not specified, two reads are required:
         /// One read to fetch the 8-byte parquet footer and
         /// another to fetch the metadata length encoded in the footer
-        pub metadata_size_hint: Option<usize>, default = None
+        //  https://vldb.org/pvldb/vol16/p2769-durner.pdf
+        pub metadata_size_hint: Option<usize>, default = Some(512*1024)
 
         /// (reading) If true, filter expressions are be applied during the parquet decoding operation to
         /// reduce the number of rows decoded. This optimization is sometimes called "late materialization".
diff --git a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/information_schema.slt b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/information_schema.slt
index 496f24abf6ed7..932cb5d848436 100644
--- a/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/information_schema.slt
+++ b/datafusion/sqllogictest/test_files/information_schema.slt
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ datafusion.execution.parquet.max_row_group_size 1048576
 datafusion.execution.parquet.max_statistics_size 4096
 datafusion.execution.parquet.maximum_buffered_record_batches_per_stream 2
 datafusion.execution.parquet.maximum_parallel_row_group_writers 1
-datafusion.execution.parquet.metadata_size_hint NULL
+datafusion.execution.parquet.metadata_size_hint 524288
 datafusion.execution.parquet.pruning true
 datafusion.execution.parquet.pushdown_filters false
 datafusion.execution.parquet.reorder_filters false
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ datafusion.execution.parquet.max_row_group_size 1048576 (writing) Target maximum
 datafusion.execution.parquet.max_statistics_size 4096 (writing) Sets max statistics size for any column. If NULL, uses default parquet writer setting max_statistics_size is deprecated, currently it is not being used
 datafusion.execution.parquet.maximum_buffered_record_batches_per_stream 2 (writing) By default parallel parquet writer is tuned for minimum memory usage in a streaming execution plan. You may see a performance benefit when writing large parquet files by increasing maximum_parallel_row_group_writers and maximum_buffered_record_batches_per_stream if your system has idle cores and can tolerate additional memory usage. Boosting these values is likely worthwhile when writing out already in-memory data, such as from a cached data frame.
 datafusion.execution.parquet.maximum_parallel_row_group_writers 1 (writing) By default parallel parquet writer is tuned for minimum memory usage in a streaming execution plan. You may see a performance benefit when writing large parquet files by increasing maximum_parallel_row_group_writers and maximum_buffered_record_batches_per_stream if your system has idle cores and can tolerate additional memory usage. Boosting these values is likely worthwhile when writing out already in-memory data, such as from a cached data frame.
-datafusion.execution.parquet.metadata_size_hint NULL (reading) If specified, the parquet reader will try and fetch the last `size_hint` bytes of the parquet file optimistically. If not specified, two reads are required: One read to fetch the 8-byte parquet footer and another to fetch the metadata length encoded in the footer
+datafusion.execution.parquet.metadata_size_hint 524288 (reading) If specified, the parquet reader will try and fetch the last `size_hint` bytes of the parquet file optimistically. If not specified, two reads are required: One read to fetch the 8-byte parquet footer and another to fetch the metadata length encoded in the footer
 datafusion.execution.parquet.pruning true (reading) If true, the parquet reader attempts to skip entire row groups based on the predicate in the query and the metadata (min/max values) stored in the parquet file
 datafusion.execution.parquet.pushdown_filters false (reading) If true, filter expressions are be applied during the parquet decoding operation to reduce the number of rows decoded. This optimization is sometimes called "late materialization".
 datafusion.execution.parquet.reorder_filters false (reading) If true, filter expressions evaluated during the parquet decoding operation will be reordered heuristically to minimize the cost of evaluation. If false, the filters are applied in the same order as written in the query