diff --git a/Documentation/config/maintenance.adoc b/Documentation/config/maintenance.adoc
index d0c38f03fa..b578856dde 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/maintenance.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/maintenance.adoc
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ The possible strategies are:
 +
 * `none`: This strategy implies no tasks are run at all. This is the default
   strategy for scheduled maintenance.
-* `gc`: This strategy runs the `gc` task. This is the default strategy for
-  manual maintenance.
+* `gc`: This strategy runs the `gc` task.
 * `geometric`: This strategy performs geometric repacking of packfiles and
   keeps auxiliary data structures up-to-date. The strategy expires data in the
   reflog and removes worktrees that cannot be located anymore. When the
@@ -40,7 +39,8 @@ The possible strategies are:
   are already part of a cruft pack will be expired.
 +
 This repacking strategy is a full replacement for the `gc` strategy and is
-recommended for large repositories.
+recommended for large repositories. This is the default strategy for manual
+maintenance.
 * `incremental`: This setting optimizes for performing small maintenance
   activities that do not delete any data. This does not schedule the `gc`
   task, but runs the `prefetch` and `commit-graph` tasks hourly, the
diff --git a/builtin/gc.c b/builtin/gc.c
index 4390eee6ec..fb329c2cff 100644
--- a/builtin/gc.c
+++ b/builtin/gc.c
@@ -1980,7 +1980,7 @@ static void initialize_task_config(struct maintenance_run_opts *opts,
 		strategy = none_strategy;
 		type = MAINTENANCE_TYPE_SCHEDULED;
 	} else {
-		strategy = gc_strategy;
+		strategy = geometric_strategy;
 		type = MAINTENANCE_TYPE_MANUAL;
 	}