diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7a53440c2..c43cb684f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,16 +7,20 @@
   The SDK now supports Sentry's new [Trace Connected Metrics](https://docs.sentry.io/product/explore/metrics/) product.
 
   ```ruby
-   Sentry.init do |config|
-     # ...
-     config.enable_metrics = true
-   end
-
    Sentry.metrics.count("button.click", 1, attributes: { button_id: "submit" })
    Sentry.metrics.distribution("response.time", 120.5, unit: "millisecond")
    Sentry.metrics.gauge("cpu.usage", 75.2, unit: "percent")
   ```
 
+  Metrics is enabled by default and only activates once you use the above APIs. To disable completely:
+
+  ```ruby
+  Sentry.init do |config|
+    # ...
+    config.enable_metrics = false
+  end
+  ```
+
 - Support for tracing `Sequel` queries ([#2814](https://github.com/getsentry/sentry-ruby/pull/2814))
 
   ```ruby
diff --git a/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/configuration.rb b/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/configuration.rb
index 11ad5fb44..b09f8ad62 100644
--- a/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/configuration.rb
+++ b/sentry-ruby/lib/sentry/configuration.rb
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ class Configuration
     # @return [Integer]
     attr_accessor :max_log_events
 
-    # Enable metrics collection
+    # Enable metrics collection, defaults to true
     # @return [Boolean]
     attr_accessor :enable_metrics
 
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ def initialize
       self.rack_env_whitelist = RACK_ENV_WHITELIST_DEFAULT
       self.traces_sampler = nil
       self.enable_logs = false
-      self.enable_metrics = false
+      self.enable_metrics = true
 
       self.profiler_class = Sentry::Profiler
       self.profiles_sample_interval = DEFAULT_PROFILES_SAMPLE_INTERVAL
diff --git a/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/configuration_spec.rb b/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/configuration_spec.rb
index 35127f7c7..c84de8e99 100644
--- a/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/configuration_spec.rb
+++ b/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/configuration_spec.rb
@@ -759,13 +759,13 @@ class SentryConfigurationSample < Sentry::Configuration
   end
 
   describe "#enable_metrics" do
-    it "returns false by default" do
-      expect(subject.enable_metrics).to eq(false)
+    it "returns true by default" do
+      expect(subject.enable_metrics).to eq(true)
     end
 
-    it "can be set to true" do
-      subject.enable_metrics = true
-      expect(subject.enable_metrics).to eq(true)
+    it "can be set to false" do
+      subject.enable_metrics = false
+      expect(subject.enable_metrics).to eq(false)
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/metrics_spec.rb b/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/metrics_spec.rb
index 7dce798fd..874c1e8d0 100644
--- a/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/metrics_spec.rb
+++ b/sentry-ruby/spec/sentry/metrics_spec.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 RSpec.describe "Sentry Metrics" do
   before do
     perform_basic_setup do |config|
-      config.enable_metrics = true
       config.traces_sample_rate = 1.0
       config.release = "test-release"
       config.environment = "test"
@@ -294,7 +293,6 @@
       context "with before_send_metric callback" do
         it "receives MetricEvent" do
           perform_basic_setup do |config|
-            config.enable_metrics = true
             config.before_send_metric = lambda do |metric|
               expect(metric).to be_a(Sentry::MetricEvent)
               metric
@@ -307,7 +305,6 @@
 
         it "allows modifying metrics before sending" do
           perform_basic_setup do |config|
-            config.enable_metrics = true
             config.before_send_metric = lambda do |metric|
               metric.attributes["modified"] = true
               metric
@@ -324,7 +321,6 @@
 
         it "filters out metrics when callback returns nil" do
           perform_basic_setup do |config|
-            config.enable_metrics = true
             config.before_send_metric = lambda do |metric|
               metric.name == "test.filtered" ? nil : metric
             end