diff --git a/ros2bag/ros2bag/verb/record.py b/ros2bag/ros2bag/verb/record.py
index 41a7a2f11..ec41a6714 100644
--- a/ros2bag/ros2bag/verb/record.py
+++ b/ros2bag/ros2bag/verb/record.py
@@ -67,9 +67,11 @@ def add_arguments(self, parser, cli_name):  # noqa: D102
                   'the bag will split at whichever threshold is reached first.'
         )
         parser.add_argument(
-            '--max-cache-size', type=int, default=0,
-            help='maximum amount of messages to hold in cache before writing to disk. '
-                 'Default it is zero, writing every message directly to disk.'
+            '--max-cache-size', type=int, default=1024*1024,
+            help='maximum size (in bytes) of messages to hold in cache before writing to disk. '
+                 'Default is 1 mebibyte, everytime the cache size equals or exceeds 1MB, '
+                 'it will be written to disk. If the value specified is 0, then every message is'
+                 'directly written to disk.'
         )
         parser.add_argument(
             '--compression-mode', type=str, default='none',
diff --git a/rosbag2_cpp/include/rosbag2_cpp/storage_options.hpp b/rosbag2_cpp/include/rosbag2_cpp/storage_options.hpp
index 57793e1fb..4337dc45d 100644
--- a/rosbag2_cpp/include/rosbag2_cpp/storage_options.hpp
+++ b/rosbag2_cpp/include/rosbag2_cpp/storage_options.hpp
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ struct StorageOptions
 
   // The cache size indiciates how many messages can maximally be hold in cache
   // before these being written to disk.
-  // Defaults to 0, and effectively disables the caching.
+  // A value of 0 disables caching and every write happens directly to disk.
   uint64_t max_cache_size = 0;
 };
 
diff --git a/rosbag2_cpp/src/rosbag2_cpp/reader.cpp b/rosbag2_cpp/src/rosbag2_cpp/reader.cpp
index 08cfd1c3b..ef2670fb8 100644
--- a/rosbag2_cpp/src/rosbag2_cpp/reader.cpp
+++ b/rosbag2_cpp/src/rosbag2_cpp/reader.cpp
@@ -40,8 +40,6 @@ void Reader::open(const std::string & uri)
   rosbag2_cpp::StorageOptions storage_options;
   storage_options.uri = uri;
   storage_options.storage_id = "sqlite3";
-  storage_options.max_bagfile_size = 0;  // default
-  storage_options.max_cache_size = 0;  // default
 
   rosbag2_cpp::ConverterOptions converter_options{};
   return open(storage_options, converter_options);
diff --git a/rosbag2_tests/test/rosbag2_tests/test_rosbag2_record_end_to_end.cpp b/rosbag2_tests/test/rosbag2_tests/test_rosbag2_record_end_to_end.cpp
index aa3f18ae2..87940510b 100644
--- a/rosbag2_tests/test/rosbag2_tests/test_rosbag2_record_end_to_end.cpp
+++ b/rosbag2_tests/test/rosbag2_tests/test_rosbag2_record_end_to_end.cpp
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ TEST_F(RecordFixture, record_end_to_end_test_with_zstd_file_compression) {
   cmd << "ros2 bag record" <<
     " --compression-mode file" <<
     " --compression-format zstd" <<
+    " --max-cache-size 0" <<
     " --output " << root_bag_path_.string() <<
     " " << topic_name;
 
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ TEST_F(RecordFixture, record_end_to_end_test) {
   wrong_message->string_value = "wrong_content";
 
   auto process_handle = start_execution(
-    "ros2 bag record --output " + root_bag_path_.string() + " /test_topic");
+    "ros2 bag record --max-cache-size 0 --output " + root_bag_path_.string() + " /test_topic");
   wait_for_db();
 
   pub_man_.add_publisher("/test_topic", message, expected_test_messages);