diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
index 2658868d5d0..4429d8148c9 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/HConstants.java
@@ -607,9 +607,9 @@ public final class HConstants {
    * Note that when a single row is larger than this limit the row is still
    * returned completely.
    *
-   * The default value is unlimited.
+   * The default value is 2MB.
    */
-  public static final long DEFAULT_HBASE_CLIENT_SCANNER_MAX_RESULT_SIZE = Long.MAX_VALUE;
+  public static final long DEFAULT_HBASE_CLIENT_SCANNER_MAX_RESULT_SIZE = 2 * 1024 * 1024;
 
   /**
    * Parameter name for client pause value, used mostly as value to wait
diff --git a/hbase-common/src/main/resources/hbase-default.xml b/hbase-common/src/main/resources/hbase-default.xml
index e72484a1d65..df1894bfe79 100644
--- a/hbase-common/src/main/resources/hbase-default.xml
+++ b/hbase-common/src/main/resources/hbase-default.xml
@@ -1178,6 +1178,16 @@ possible configurations would overwhelm and obscure the important.
     </description>
   </property>
 
+  <property>
+    <name>hbase.client.scanner.max.result.size</name>
+    <value>2097152</value>
+    <description>Maximum number of bytes returned when calling a scanner's next method.
+    Note that when a single row is larger than this limit the row is still returned completely.
+    The default value is 2MB, which is good for 1ge networks.
+    With faster and/or high latency networks this value should be increased.
+    </description>
+  </property>
+
   <property>
     <name>hbase.status.published</name>
     <value>false</value>