diff --git a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistry.java b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistry.java
index 2cc06cb90e..45af042a1e 100644
--- a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistry.java
+++ b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistry.java
@@ -54,9 +54,11 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * in memory and uses a {@link org.springframework.util.PathMatcher PathMatcher}
  * for matching destinations.
  *
- * <p>As of 4.2, this class supports a {@link #setSelectorHeaderName selector}
- * header on subscription messages with Spring EL expressions evaluated against
- * the headers to filter out messages in addition to destination matching.
+ * <p>This class also supports an optional <em>selector</em> header on subscription
+ * messages with Spring Expression Language (SpEL) expressions evaluated against
+ * the headers to filter out messages in addition to destination matching. As of
+ * Spring Framework 6.1, the SpEL support is disabled by default, but it can be
+ * enabled by setting a {@linkplain #setSelectorHeaderName selector header name}.
  *
  * @author Rossen Stoyanchev
  * @author Sebastien Deleuze
@@ -79,7 +81,7 @@ public class DefaultSubscriptionRegistry extends AbstractSubscriptionRegistry {
 	private int cacheLimit = DEFAULT_CACHE_LIMIT;
 
 	@Nullable
-	private String selectorHeaderName = "selector";
+	private String selectorHeaderName;
 
 	private volatile boolean selectorHeaderInUse;
 
@@ -130,9 +132,11 @@ public class DefaultSubscriptionRegistry extends AbstractSubscriptionRegistry {
 	 * <pre style="code">
 	 * headers.foo == 'bar'
 	 * </pre>
-	 * <p>By default this is set to "selector". You can set it to a different
-	 * name, or to {@code null} to turn off support for a selector header.
-	 * @param selectorHeaderName the name to use for a selector header
+	 * <p>By default the selector header name is set to {@code null} which disables
+	 * this feature. You can set it to {@code "selector"} or a different name to
+	 * enable support for a selector header.
+	 * @param selectorHeaderName the name to use for a selector header, or {@code null}
+	 * or blank to disable selector header support
 	 * @since 4.2
 	 */
 	public void setSelectorHeaderName(@Nullable String selectorHeaderName) {
diff --git a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/SimpleBrokerMessageHandler.java b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/SimpleBrokerMessageHandler.java
index d91e5fce1c..d6e4fcdb85 100644
--- a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/SimpleBrokerMessageHandler.java
+++ b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/SimpleBrokerMessageHandler.java
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public class SimpleBrokerMessageHandler extends AbstractBrokerMessageHandler {
 	private Integer cacheLimit;
 
 	@Nullable
-	private String selectorHeaderName = "selector";
+	private String selectorHeaderName;
 
 	@Nullable
 	private TaskScheduler taskScheduler;
@@ -172,11 +172,13 @@ public class SimpleBrokerMessageHandler extends AbstractBrokerMessageHandler {
 	 * <pre style="code">
 	 * headers.foo == 'bar'
 	 * </pre>
-	 * <p>By default this is set to "selector". You can set it to a different
-	 * name, or to {@code null} to turn off support for a selector header.
+	 * <p>By default the selector header name is set to {@code null} which disables
+	 * this feature. You can set it to {@code "selector"} or a different name to
+	 * enable support for a selector header.
 	 * <p>Setting this property has no effect if the underlying SubscriptionRegistry
 	 * is not an instance of {@link DefaultSubscriptionRegistry}.
-	 * @param selectorHeaderName the name to use for a selector header
+	 * @param selectorHeaderName the name to use for a selector header, or {@code null}
+	 * or blank to disable selector header support
 	 * @since 4.3.17
 	 * @see #setSubscriptionRegistry
 	 * @see DefaultSubscriptionRegistry#setSelectorHeaderName(String)
diff --git a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/config/SimpleBrokerRegistration.java b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/config/SimpleBrokerRegistration.java
index fb2ece63ce..628914a9d7 100644
--- a/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/config/SimpleBrokerRegistration.java
+++ b/spring-messaging/src/main/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/config/SimpleBrokerRegistration.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ public class SimpleBrokerRegistration extends AbstractBrokerRegistration {
 	private long[] heartbeat;
 
 	@Nullable
-	private String selectorHeaderName = "selector";
+	private String selectorHeaderName;
 
 
 	/**
@@ -90,9 +90,11 @@ public class SimpleBrokerRegistration extends AbstractBrokerRegistration {
 	 * <pre style="code">
 	 * headers.foo == 'bar'
 	 * </pre>
-	 * <p>By default this is set to "selector". You can set it to a different
-	 * name, or to {@code null} to turn off support for a selector header.
-	 * @param selectorHeaderName the name to use for a selector header
+	 * <p>By default the selector header name is set to {@code null} which disables
+	 * this feature. You can set it to {@code "selector"} or a different name to
+	 * enable support for a selector header.
+	 * @param selectorHeaderName the name to use for a selector header, or {@code null}
+	 * or blank to disable selector header support
 	 * @since 4.3.17
 	 */
 	public void setSelectorHeaderName(@Nullable String selectorHeaderName) {
diff --git a/spring-messaging/src/test/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests.java b/spring-messaging/src/test/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests.java
index 5b111dd1e3..9416b2d94e 100644
--- a/spring-messaging/src/test/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests.java
+++ b/spring-messaging/src/test/java/org/springframework/messaging/simp/broker/DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests.java
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ class DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void registerSubscriptionWithSelectorHeaderEnabledByDefault() {
+	void registerSubscriptionWithSelectorHeaderEnabled() {
 		String sessionId1 = "sess01";
 		String sessionId2 = "sess02";
 		String sessionId3 = "sess03";
@@ -264,6 +264,9 @@ class DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests {
 		String selector1 = "headers.foo == 'bar'";
 		String selector2 = "headers.foo == 'enigma'";
 
+		// Explicitly enable selector support
+		this.registry.setSelectorHeaderName("selector");
+
 		// Register subscription with matching selector header
 		this.registry.registerSubscription(subscribeMessage(sessionId1, subscriptionId1, destination, selector1));
 		// Register subscription with non-matching selector header
@@ -297,7 +300,7 @@ class DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void registerSubscriptionWithSelectorHeaderDisabled() {
+	void registerSubscriptionWithSelectorHeaderDisabledByDefault() {
 		String sessionId1 = "sess01";
 		String sessionId2 = "sess02";
 		String sessionId3 = "sess03";
@@ -308,9 +311,6 @@ class DefaultSubscriptionRegistryTests {
 		String selector1 = "headers.foo == 'bar'";
 		String selector2 = "headers.foo == 'enigma'";
 
-		// Explicitly disable selector header support
-		this.registry.setSelectorHeaderName(null);
-
 		// Register subscription with matching selector header
 		this.registry.registerSubscription(subscribeMessage(sessionId1, subscriptionId1, destination, selector1));
 		// Register subscription with non-matching selector header
diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests.java b/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests.java
index 3f4ee1ef98..2a48863016 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests.java
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/config/annotation/WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests.java
@@ -165,8 +165,8 @@ class WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void selectorHeaderEnabledByDefault() {
-		ApplicationContext context = createContext(TestChannelConfig.class, TestConfigurer.class);
+	void selectorHeaderEnabled() {
+		ApplicationContext context = createContext(TestChannelConfig.class, SelectorHeaderConfigurer.class);
 		SimpleBrokerMessageHandler simpleBrokerMessageHandler = simpleBrokerMessageHandler(context);
 
 		assertThat(simpleBrokerMessageHandler.getSubscriptionRegistry())
@@ -176,8 +176,8 @@ class WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests {
 	}
 
 	@Test
-	void selectorHeaderDisabled() {
-		ApplicationContext context = createContext(TestChannelConfig.class, SelectorHeaderConfigurer.class);
+	void selectorHeaderDisabledByDefault() {
+		ApplicationContext context = createContext(TestChannelConfig.class, TestConfigurer.class);
 		SimpleBrokerMessageHandler simpleBrokerMessageHandler = simpleBrokerMessageHandler(context);
 
 		assertThat(simpleBrokerMessageHandler.getSubscriptionRegistry())
@@ -282,8 +282,8 @@ class WebSocketMessageBrokerConfigurationSupportTests {
 
 		@Override
 		public void configureMessageBroker(MessageBrokerRegistry registry) {
-			// Explicitly disable selector header support
-			registry.enableSimpleBroker().setSelectorHeaderName(null);
+			// Explicitly enable selector header support
+			registry.enableSimpleBroker().setSelectorHeaderName("selector");
 		}
 
 	}
diff --git a/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/messaging/StompWebSocketIntegrationTests.java b/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/messaging/StompWebSocketIntegrationTests.java
index ba91b7d7ba..a06c497e6a 100644
--- a/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/messaging/StompWebSocketIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/spring-websocket/src/test/java/org/springframework/web/socket/messaging/StompWebSocketIntegrationTests.java
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ class StompWebSocketIntegrationTests extends AbstractWebSocketIntegrationTests {
 		@Override
 		public void configureMessageBroker(MessageBrokerRegistry configurer) {
 			configurer.setApplicationDestinationPrefixes("/app");
-			configurer.enableSimpleBroker("/topic", "/queue");
+			configurer.enableSimpleBroker("/topic", "/queue").setSelectorHeaderName("selector");
 		}
 
 		@Bean