diff --git a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
index 50cca72e50b3..4d5f7a4b8c06 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/aws/resource_aws_db_instance.go
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ func resourceAwsDbInstance() *schema.Resource {
 			"skip_final_snapshot": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:     schema.TypeBool,
 				Optional: true,
-				Default:  false,
+				Default:  true,
 			},
 
 			"copy_tags_to_snapshot": &schema.Schema{
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown
index a319788fb722..2a1901437d8c 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/aws/r/db_instance.html.markdown
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `final_snapshot_identifier` - (Optional) The name of your final DB snapshot
     when this DB instance is deleted. If omitted, no final snapshot will be
     made.
-* `skip_final_snapshot` - (Optional) Determines whether a final DB snapshot is created before the DB instance is deleted. If true is specified, no DBSnapshot is created. If false is specified, a DB snapshot is created before the DB instance is deleted. Default is false.
+* `skip_final_snapshot` - (Optional) Determines whether a final DB snapshot is created before the DB instance is deleted. If true is specified, no DBSnapshot is created. If false is specified, a DB snapshot is created before the DB instance is deleted. Default is true.
 * `copy_tags_to_snapshot` – (Optional, boolean) On delete, copy all Instance `tags` to
 the final snapshot (if `final_snapshot_identifier` is specified). Default
 `false`