diff --git a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/build-tool-plugins.adoc b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/build-tool-plugins.adoc
index d74ebf643af..6b662acd1ab 100644
--- a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/build-tool-plugins.adoc
+++ b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/build-tool-plugins.adoc
@@ -400,7 +400,7 @@ want the other Boot features but not this one)
 
 |`excludeDevtools`
 |Boolean flag to indicate if the devtools jar should be excluded from the repackaged
-archives. Defaults to `false`.
+archives. Defaults to `true`.
 |===
 
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/using-spring-boot.adoc b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/using-spring-boot.adoc
index d583a6b180b..4349656c8f0 100644
--- a/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/using-spring-boot.adoc
+++ b/spring-boot-docs/src/main/asciidoc/using-spring-boot.adoc
@@ -768,9 +768,9 @@ applied to other modules using your project. Gradle does not support `optional`
 dependencies out-of-the-box so you may want to have a look to the
 {propdeps-plugin}[`propdeps-plugin`] in the meantime.
 
-TIP: If you want to ensure that devtools is never included in a production build, you can
-use the `excludeDevtools` build property to completely remove the JAR. The property is
-supported with both the Maven and Gradle plugins.
+TIP: repackaged archives do not contain devtools by default. If you want to use certain
+remote devtools feature, you'll need to enable the `excludeDevtools` build property to
+include it. The property is supported with both the Maven and Gradle plugins.
 
 
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringBootPluginExtension.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringBootPluginExtension.java
index e4244b22b41..987336250cc 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringBootPluginExtension.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/gradle/SpringBootPluginExtension.java
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public class SpringBootPluginExtension {
 	/**
 	 * Whether Spring Boot Devtools should be excluded from the fat jar.
 	 */
-	boolean excludeDevtools = false;
+	boolean excludeDevtools = true;
 
 	/**
 	 * Location of an agent jar to attach to the VM when running the application with
diff --git a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/maven/RepackageMojo.java b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/maven/RepackageMojo.java
index 3502ef687c4..309eb72db37 100644
--- a/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/maven/RepackageMojo.java
+++ b/spring-boot-tools/spring-boot-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/maven/RepackageMojo.java
@@ -167,11 +167,11 @@ public class RepackageMojo extends AbstractDependencyFilterMojo {
 	private Properties embeddedLaunchScriptProperties;
 
 	/**
-	 * Exclude Spring Boot devtools.
+	 * Exclude Spring Boot devtools from the repackaged archive.
 	 * @since 1.3
 	 */
-	@Parameter(defaultValue = "false")
-	private boolean excludeDevtools;
+	@Parameter(defaultValue = "true")
+	private boolean excludeDevtools = true;
 
 	/**
 	 * Include system scoped dependencies.