diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d9dde20c5f42..d7385cb08dbd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ Every module contains its own CHANGELOG.md. Please refer to the module you are i
 * (crypto) [#19691](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19691) Fix tx sign doesn't throw an error when incorrect Ledger is used.
 * [#19833](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19833) Fix some places in which we call Remove inside a Walk.
 * [#19851](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19851) Fix some places in which we call Remove inside a Walk (x/staking and x/gov).
+* (baseapp) [#19970](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/19970) Fix default config values to use no-op mempool as default.
 
 ### API Breaking Changes
 
diff --git a/baseapp/abci_test.go b/baseapp/abci_test.go
index 33c4d75284bb..4a3693094353 100644
--- a/baseapp/abci_test.go
+++ b/baseapp/abci_test.go
@@ -1404,7 +1404,7 @@ func TestPrecommiterCalledWithDeliverState(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestABCI_Proposal_HappyPath(t *testing.T) {
 	anteKey := []byte("ante-key")
-	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 	anteOpt := func(bapp *baseapp.BaseApp) {
 		bapp.SetAnteHandler(anteHandlerTxTest(t, capKey1, anteKey))
 	}
@@ -1582,7 +1582,7 @@ func TestABCI_Proposals_WithVE(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_ReachedMaxBytes(t *testing.T) {
 	anteKey := []byte("ante-key")
-	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 	anteOpt := func(bapp *baseapp.BaseApp) {
 		bapp.SetAnteHandler(anteHandlerTxTest(t, capKey1, anteKey))
 	}
@@ -1612,7 +1612,7 @@ func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_ReachedMaxBytes(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_BadEncoding(t *testing.T) {
 	anteKey := []byte("ante-key")
-	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 	anteOpt := func(bapp *baseapp.BaseApp) {
 		bapp.SetAnteHandler(anteHandlerTxTest(t, capKey1, anteKey))
 	}
@@ -1639,7 +1639,7 @@ func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_BadEncoding(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_OverGasUnderBytes(t *testing.T) {
-	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 	suite := NewBaseAppSuite(t, baseapp.SetMempool(pool))
 	baseapptestutil.RegisterCounterServer(suite.baseApp.MsgServiceRouter(), NoopCounterServerImpl{})
 
@@ -1680,7 +1680,7 @@ func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_OverGasUnderBytes(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_MaxGas(t *testing.T) {
-	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 	suite := NewBaseAppSuite(t, baseapp.SetMempool(pool))
 	baseapptestutil.RegisterCounterServer(suite.baseApp.MsgServiceRouter(), NoopCounterServerImpl{})
 
@@ -1719,7 +1719,7 @@ func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_MaxGas(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestABCI_PrepareProposal_Failures(t *testing.T) {
 	anteKey := []byte("ante-key")
-	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 	anteOpt := func(bapp *baseapp.BaseApp) {
 		bapp.SetAnteHandler(anteHandlerTxTest(t, capKey1, anteKey))
 	}
diff --git a/server/config/config.go b/server/config/config.go
index f3e5b04913bf..9099fdb3e5bc 100644
--- a/server/config/config.go
+++ b/server/config/config.go
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 			},
 		},
 		Mempool: MempoolConfig{
-			MaxTxs: 5_000,
+			MaxTxs: -1,
 		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/types/mempool/mempool_test.go b/types/mempool/mempool_test.go
index 3dbd5f1349b0..cdc0756141a6 100644
--- a/types/mempool/mempool_test.go
+++ b/types/mempool/mempool_test.go
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ type MempoolTestSuite struct {
 
 func (s *MempoolTestSuite) resetMempool() {
 	s.iterations = 0
-	s.mempool = mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	s.mempool = mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 }
 
 func (s *MempoolTestSuite) SetupTest() {
diff --git a/types/mempool/sender_nonce.go b/types/mempool/sender_nonce.go
index 524d20a73c74..9e2b25e4e47d 100644
--- a/types/mempool/sender_nonce.go
+++ b/types/mempool/sender_nonce.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ var (
 	_ Iterator = (*senderNonceMempoolIterator)(nil)
 )
 
-var DefaultMaxTx = 0
+var DefaultMaxTx = -1
 
 // SenderNonceMempool is a mempool that prioritizes transactions within a sender
 // by nonce, the lowest first, but selects a random sender on each iteration.
diff --git a/types/mempool/sender_nonce_test.go b/types/mempool/sender_nonce_test.go
index e458c0bc4233..d4e4fe565ee3 100644
--- a/types/mempool/sender_nonce_test.go
+++ b/types/mempool/sender_nonce_test.go
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func (s *MempoolTestSuite) TestTxOrder() {
 	}
 	for i, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("case %d", i), func(t *testing.T) {
-			pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceSeedOpt(tt.seed))
+			pool := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000), mempool.SenderNonceSeedOpt(tt.seed))
 			// create test txs and insert into mempool
 			for i, ts := range tt.txs {
 				tx := testTx{id: i, priority: int64(ts.p), nonce: uint64(ts.n), address: ts.a}
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ func (s *MempoolTestSuite) TestTxNotFoundOnSender() {
 	t := s.T()
 	ctx := sdk.NewContext(nil, false, log.NewNopLogger())
 	accounts := simtypes.RandomAccounts(rand.New(rand.NewSource(0)), 1)
-	mp := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool()
+	mp := mempool.NewSenderNonceMempool(mempool.SenderNonceMaxTxOpt(5000))
 
 	txSender := testTx{
 		nonce:    0,