diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index aaea77307b..5fd28bcbb6 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 4.0
+ * Lower default chunk_length_in_kb from 64kb to 16kb (CASSANDRA-13241)
  * Startup checker should wait for count rather than percentage (CASSANDRA-14297)
  * Fix incorrect sorting of replicas in SimpleStrategy.calculateNaturalReplicas (CASSANDRA-14862)
  * Partitioned outbound internode TCP connections can occur when nodes restart (CASSANDRA-14358)
diff --git a/NEWS.txt b/NEWS.txt
index 63c4a47cf5..af28b6e547 100644
--- a/NEWS.txt
+++ b/NEWS.txt
@@ -108,6 +108,9 @@ New features
 
 Upgrading
 ---------
+    - CASSANDRA-13241 lowered the default chunk_lengh_in_kb for compresesd tables from
+      64kb to 16kb. For highly compressible data this can have a noticeable impact
+      on space utilization. You may want to consider manually specifying this value.
     - Additional columns have been added to system_distributed.repair_history,
       system_traces.sessions and system_traces.events. As a result select * queries
       againsts these tables will fail and generate an error in the log
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/schema/CompressionParams.java b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/schema/CompressionParams.java
index d644c56912..25631116de 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/schema/CompressionParams.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/cassandra/schema/CompressionParams.java
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ public final class CompressionParams
     private static volatile boolean hasLoggedChunkLengthWarning;
     private static volatile boolean hasLoggedCrcCheckChanceWarning;
 
-    public static final int DEFAULT_CHUNK_LENGTH = 65536;
+    public static final int DEFAULT_CHUNK_LENGTH = 1024 * 16;
     public static final double DEFAULT_MIN_COMPRESS_RATIO = 0.0;        // Since pre-4.0 versions do not understand the
                                                                         // new compression parameter we can't use a
                                                                         // different default value.
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/AlterTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/AlterTest.java
index a792bcbc68..79db6f29ae 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/AlterTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/AlterTest.java
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ public class AlterTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor")));
 
         execute("ALTER TABLE %s WITH compression = { 'class' : 'SnappyCompressor', 'chunk_length_in_kb' : 32 };");
 
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ public class AlterTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor", "min_compress_ratio", "2.0")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor", "min_compress_ratio", "2.0")));
 
         execute("ALTER TABLE %s WITH compression = { 'class' : 'LZ4Compressor', 'min_compress_ratio' : 1 };");
 
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ public class AlterTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor", "min_compress_ratio", "1.0")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor", "min_compress_ratio", "1.0")));
 
         execute("ALTER TABLE %s WITH compression = { 'class' : 'LZ4Compressor', 'min_compress_ratio' : 0 };");
 
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ public class AlterTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor")));
 
         execute("ALTER TABLE %s WITH compression = { 'class' : 'SnappyCompressor', 'chunk_length_in_kb' : 32 };");
         execute("ALTER TABLE %s WITH compression = { 'enabled' : 'false'};");
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/CreateTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/CreateTest.java
index 37605d6695..1c3b44913a 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/CreateTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/cql3/validation/operations/CreateTest.java
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ public class CreateTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.LZ4Compressor")));
 
         createTable("CREATE TABLE %s (a text, b int, c int, primary key (a, b))"
                 + " WITH compression = { 'class' : 'SnappyCompressor', 'chunk_length_in_kb' : 32 };");
@@ -604,7 +604,7 @@ public class CreateTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.SnappyCompressor", "min_compress_ratio", "2.0")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.SnappyCompressor", "min_compress_ratio", "2.0")));
 
         createTable("CREATE TABLE %s (a text, b int, c int, primary key (a, b))"
                     + " WITH compression = { 'sstable_compression' : 'SnappyCompressor', 'min_compress_ratio' : 1 };");
@@ -614,7 +614,7 @@ public class CreateTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.SnappyCompressor", "min_compress_ratio", "1.0")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.SnappyCompressor", "min_compress_ratio", "1.0")));
 
         createTable("CREATE TABLE %s (a text, b int, c int, primary key (a, b))"
                     + " WITH compression = { 'sstable_compression' : 'SnappyCompressor', 'min_compress_ratio' : 0 };");
@@ -624,7 +624,7 @@ public class CreateTest extends CQLTester
                                   SchemaKeyspace.TABLES),
                            KEYSPACE,
                            currentTable()),
-                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "64", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.SnappyCompressor")));
+                   row(map("chunk_length_in_kb", "16", "class", "org.apache.cassandra.io.compress.SnappyCompressor")));
 
         createTable("CREATE TABLE %s (a text, b int, c int, primary key (a, b))"
                 + " WITH compression = { 'sstable_compression' : '', 'chunk_length_kb' : 32 };");