diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 288f204603..2a3854b14e 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  * Fix paging on DISTINCT queries repeats result when first row in partition changes
    (CASSANDRA-10010)
 Merged from 2.1:
+ * Fix sstableloader to unthrottle streaming by default (CASSANDRA-9714)
  * Fix incorrect warning in 'nodetool status' (CASSANDRA-10176)
  * Properly release sstable ref when doing offline scrub (CASSANDRA-10697)
  * Improve nodetool status performance for large cluster (CASSANDRA-7238)
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/BulkLoader.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/BulkLoader.java
index 8a85c54764..6d19f5e651 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/BulkLoader.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/tools/BulkLoader.java
@@ -434,6 +434,9 @@ public class BulkLoader
                 else
                 {
                     config = new Config();
+                    // unthrottle stream by default
+                    config.stream_throughput_outbound_megabits_per_sec = 0;
+                    config.inter_dc_stream_throughput_outbound_megabits_per_sec = 0;
                 }
                 opts.storagePort = config.storage_port;
                 opts.sslStoragePort = config.ssl_storage_port;