diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/ServerProperties.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/ServerProperties.java
index 9740226d8cf..02121550075 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/ServerProperties.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/web/ServerProperties.java
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ public class ServerProperties {
 		/**
 		 * Whether to register the default Servlet with the container.
 		 */
-		private boolean registerDefaultServlet = true;
+		private boolean registerDefaultServlet = false;
 
 		@NestedConfigurationProperty
 		private final Encoding encoding = new Encoding();
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterContextPathTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterContextPathTests.java
index 308be4f1861..d563060ec31 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterContextPathTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterContextPathTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2020 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
  */
-@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT,
-		properties = { "spring.jersey.type=filter", "server.servlet.context-path=/app" })
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT, properties = { "spring.jersey.type=filter",
+		"server.servlet.context-path=/app", "server.servlet.register-default-servlet=true" })
 @DirtiesContext
 class JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterContextPathTests {
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterPathTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterPathTests.java
index 5ef1b34603a..4efb451a825 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterPathTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterPathTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2020 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -50,7 +50,8 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
  */
-@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT, properties = "spring.jersey.type=filter")
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT,
+		properties = { "spring.jersey.type=filter", "server.servlet.register-default-servlet=true" })
 @DirtiesContext
 class JerseyAutoConfigurationCustomFilterPathTests {
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationDefaultFilterPathTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationDefaultFilterPathTests.java
index afe01f326ab..7484bb7a3fe 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationDefaultFilterPathTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/jersey/JerseyAutoConfigurationDefaultFilterPathTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2020 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
  *
  * @author Dave Syer
  */
-@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT, properties = "spring.jersey.type=filter")
+@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT,
+		properties = { "spring.jersey.type=filter", "server.servlet.register-default-servlet=true" })
 @DirtiesContext
 class JerseyAutoConfigurationDefaultFilterPathTests {
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-devtools/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/devtools/remote/client/RemoteClientConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-devtools/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/devtools/remote/client/RemoteClientConfigurationTests.java
index e1b006b1a68..5b3f9090436 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-devtools/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/devtools/remote/client/RemoteClientConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-devtools/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/devtools/remote/client/RemoteClientConfigurationTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2020 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -156,7 +156,9 @@ class RemoteClientConfigurationTests {
 
 		@Bean
 		TomcatServletWebServerFactory tomcat() {
-			return new TomcatServletWebServerFactory(0);
+			TomcatServletWebServerFactory webServerFactory = new TomcatServletWebServerFactory(0);
+			webServerFactory.setRegisterDefaultServlet(true);
+			return webServerFactory;
 		}
 
 		@Bean
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactory.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactory.java
index 9cddc7198fc..38e6e29fca5 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactory.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactory.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2020 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractServletWebServerFactory extends AbstractConfigurab
 
 	private Session session = new Session();
 
-	private boolean registerDefaultServlet = true;
+	private boolean registerDefaultServlet = false;
 
 	private MimeMappings mimeMappings = new MimeMappings(MimeMappings.DEFAULT);
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/ConfigurableServletWebServerFactory.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/ConfigurableServletWebServerFactory.java
index c60503c2986..a2cdd5264a5 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/ConfigurableServletWebServerFactory.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/ConfigurableServletWebServerFactory.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2020 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -66,8 +66,8 @@ public interface ConfigurableServletWebServerFactory extends ConfigurableWebServ
 	void setSession(Session session);
 
 	/**
-	 * Set if the DefaultServlet should be registered. Defaults to {@code true} so that
-	 * files from the {@link #setDocumentRoot(File) document root} will be served.
+	 * Set if the DefaultServlet should be registered. Defaults to {@code false} since
+	 * 2.4.
 	 * @param registerDefaultServlet if the default servlet should be registered
 	 */
 	void setRegisterDefaultServlet(boolean registerDefaultServlet);
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests.java
index c51f1f0f193..4800bf83e0a 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/web/servlet/server/AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests.java
@@ -378,6 +378,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests {
 	void mimeType() throws Exception {
 		FileCopyUtils.copy("test", new FileWriter(new File(this.tempDir, "test.xxcss")));
 		AbstractServletWebServerFactory factory = getFactory();
+		factory.setRegisterDefaultServlet(true);
 		factory.setDocumentRoot(this.tempDir);
 		MimeMappings mimeMappings = new MimeMappings();
 		mimeMappings.add("xxcss", "text/css");
@@ -544,6 +545,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests {
 	@Test
 	void sslNeedsClientAuthenticationSucceedsWithClientCertificate() throws Exception {
 		AbstractServletWebServerFactory factory = getFactory();
+		factory.setRegisterDefaultServlet(true);
 		addTestTxtFile(factory);
 		factory.setSsl(getSsl(ClientAuth.NEED, "password", "classpath:test.jks", "classpath:test.jks", null, null));
 		this.webServer = factory.getWebServer();
@@ -1200,6 +1202,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractServletWebServerFactoryTests {
 	private void addTestTxtFile(AbstractServletWebServerFactory factory) throws IOException {
 		FileCopyUtils.copy("test", new FileWriter(new File(this.tempDir, "test.txt")));
 		factory.setDocumentRoot(this.tempDir);
+		factory.setRegisterDefaultServlet(true);
 	}
 
 	protected String getLocalUrl(String resourcePath) {
diff --git a/spring-boot-tests/spring-boot-smoke-tests/spring-boot-smoke-test-traditional/src/main/resources/application.properties b/spring-boot-tests/spring-boot-smoke-tests/spring-boot-smoke-test-traditional/src/main/resources/application.properties
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c4ac87775cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-boot-tests/spring-boot-smoke-tests/spring-boot-smoke-test-traditional/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+server.servlet.register-default-servlet=true
\ No newline at end of file