diff --git a/conf/broker.conf b/conf/broker.conf
index 4d217a3e1981f..1c0242f583dbc 100644
--- a/conf/broker.conf
+++ b/conf/broker.conf
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ backlogQuotaCheckEnabled=true
 # How often to check for topics that have reached the quota
 backlogQuotaCheckIntervalInSeconds=60
 
-# Default per-topic backlog quota limit
-backlogQuotaDefaultLimitGB=10
+# Default per-topic backlog quota limit, less than 0 means no limitation. default is -1.
+backlogQuotaDefaultLimitGB=-1
 
 # Default backlog quota retention policy. Default is producer_request_hold
 # 'producer_request_hold' Policy which holds producer's send request until the resource becomes available (or holding times out)
diff --git a/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java b/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java
index 60d5a9cfa3920..873fa66e2dd18 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/ServiceConfiguration.java
@@ -210,9 +210,10 @@ public class ServiceConfiguration implements PulsarConfiguration {
     private int backlogQuotaCheckIntervalInSeconds = 60;
     @FieldContext(
         category = CATEGORY_POLICIES,
-        doc = "Default per-topic backlog quota limit. Increase it if you want to allow larger msg backlog"
+        doc = "Default per-topic backlog quota limit, less than 0 means no limitation. default is -1."
+                + " Increase it if you want to allow larger msg backlog"
     )
-    private long backlogQuotaDefaultLimitGB = 50;
+    private long backlogQuotaDefaultLimitGB = -1;
     @FieldContext(
         category = CATEGORY_POLICIES,
         doc = "Default backlog quota retention policy. Default is producer_request_hold\n\n"
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java
index eab5cd9d9c3eb..7a6589d287e5f 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java
@@ -1416,6 +1416,9 @@ private boolean checkQuotas(Policies policies, RetentionPolicies retention) {
         if (quota == null) {
             quota = pulsar().getBrokerService().getBacklogQuotaManager().getDefaultQuota();
         }
+        if (quota.getLimit() < 0 && (retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() > 0 || retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() > 0)) {
+            return false;
+        }
         if (quota.getLimit() >= ((long) retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() * 1024 * 1024)) {
             return false;
         }
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/BrokerService.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/BrokerService.java
index b26a6c1861290..9618bc1a04c29 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/BrokerService.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/BrokerService.java
@@ -916,6 +916,9 @@ public BacklogQuotaManager getBacklogQuotaManager() {
     public boolean isBacklogExceeded(PersistentTopic topic) {
         TopicName topicName = TopicName.get(topic.getName());
         long backlogQuotaLimitInBytes = getBacklogQuotaManager().getBacklogQuotaLimit(topicName.getNamespace());
+        if (backlogQuotaLimitInBytes < 0) {
+            return false;
+        }
         if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
             log.debug("[{}] - backlog quota limit = [{}]", topic.getName(), backlogQuotaLimitInBytes);
         }