diff --git a/docs/en/settings/ml-settings.asciidoc b/docs/en/settings/ml-settings.asciidoc
index c0d4378a771..318d1857bdc 100644
--- a/docs/en/settings/ml-settings.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/en/settings/ml-settings.asciidoc
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ IMPORTANT: If you want to use {ml} features in your cluster, you must have
 default behavior.
 
 `xpack.ml.max_open_jobs`::
-The maximum number of jobs that can run on a node. Defaults to `10`.
+The maximum number of jobs that can run on a node. Defaults to `20`.
+The maximum number of jobs is also constrained by memory usage, so fewer
+jobs than specified by this setting will run on a node if the estimated
+memory use of the jobs would be higher than allowed.
 
 `xpack.ml.max_machine_memory_percent`::
 The maximum percentage of the machine's memory that {ml} may use for running
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManager.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManager.java
index e4867d80a06..53e86bda359 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManager.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManager.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public class AutodetectProcessManager extends AbstractComponent {
     // TODO: Remove the deprecated setting in 7.0 and move the default value to the replacement setting
     @Deprecated
     public static final Setting<Integer> MAX_RUNNING_JOBS_PER_NODE =
-            Setting.intSetting("max_running_jobs", 10, 1, 512, Property.NodeScope, Property.Deprecated);
+            Setting.intSetting("max_running_jobs", 20, 1, 512, Property.NodeScope, Property.Deprecated);
     public static final Setting<Integer> MAX_OPEN_JOBS_PER_NODE =
             Setting.intSetting("xpack.ml.max_open_jobs", MAX_RUNNING_JOBS_PER_NODE, 1, Property.NodeScope);
 
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java
index 7f73067cae4..0c6635bf71c 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/BasicDistributedJobsIT.java
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ public class BasicDistributedJobsIT extends BaseMlIntegTestCase {
 
             DiscoveryNode node = clusterState.nodes().resolveNode(task.getExecutorNode());
             assertThat(node.getAttributes(), hasEntry(MachineLearning.ML_ENABLED_NODE_ATTR, "true"));
-            assertThat(node.getAttributes(), hasEntry(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR, "10"));
+            assertThat(node.getAttributes(), hasEntry(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR, "20"));
             JobTaskStatus jobTaskStatus = (JobTaskStatus) task.getStatus();
             assertNotNull(jobTaskStatus);
             assertEquals(JobState.OPENED, jobTaskStatus.getState());
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ public class BasicDistributedJobsIT extends BaseMlIntegTestCase {
             assertFalse(task.needsReassignment(clusterState.nodes()));
             DiscoveryNode node = clusterState.nodes().resolveNode(task.getExecutorNode());
             assertThat(node.getAttributes(), hasEntry(MachineLearning.ML_ENABLED_NODE_ATTR, "true"));
-            assertThat(node.getAttributes(), hasEntry(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR, "10"));
+            assertThat(node.getAttributes(), hasEntry(MachineLearning.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_NODE_ATTR, "20"));
 
             JobTaskStatus jobTaskStatus = (JobTaskStatus) task.getStatus();
             assertNotNull(jobTaskStatus);
diff --git a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManagerTests.java b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManagerTests.java
index 0c24be1310b..a59ec3c159a 100644
--- a/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManagerTests.java
+++ b/plugin/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/job/process/autodetect/AutodetectProcessManagerTests.java
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public class AutodetectProcessManagerTests extends ESTestCase {
 
     public void testMaxOpenJobsSetting_givenDefault() {
         int maxOpenJobs = AutodetectProcessManager.MAX_OPEN_JOBS_PER_NODE.get(Settings.EMPTY);
-        assertEquals(10, maxOpenJobs);
+        assertEquals(20, maxOpenJobs);
     }
 
     public void testMaxOpenJobsSetting_givenNewSettingOnly() {