diff --git a/ext/configuration.h b/ext/configuration.h
index 57dd53cc7e..1208433253 100644
--- a/ext/configuration.h
+++ b/ext/configuration.h
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ enum ddtrace_sampling_rules_format {
     CONFIG(SET, DD_TRACE_RESOURCE_URI_QUERY_PARAM_ALLOWED, "")                                                 \
     CONFIG(SET, DD_TRACE_HTTP_URL_QUERY_PARAM_ALLOWED, "*")                                                    \
     CONFIG(SET, DD_TRACE_HTTP_POST_DATA_PARAM_ALLOWED, "")                                                     \
-    CONFIG(INT, DD_TRACE_RATE_LIMIT, "0", .ini_change = zai_config_system_ini_change)                          \
+    CONFIG(INT, DD_TRACE_RATE_LIMIT, "100", .ini_change = zai_config_system_ini_change)                        \
     CONFIG(DOUBLE, DD_TRACE_SAMPLE_RATE, "-1", .ini_change = ddtrace_alter_DD_TRACE_SAMPLE_RATE,               \
            .env_config_fallback = ddtrace_conf_otel_sample_rate)                                               \
     CONFIG(JSON, DD_TRACE_SAMPLING_RULES, "[]")                                                                \
diff --git a/ext/limiter/limiter.c b/ext/limiter/limiter.c
index 389a16bf60..cc6db08a1c 100644
--- a/ext/limiter/limiter.c
+++ b/ext/limiter/limiter.c
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ static ddtrace_limiter* dd_limiter;
 
 
 void ddtrace_limiter_create() {
+    if (zai_config_memoized_entries[DDTRACE_CONFIG_DD_TRACE_SAMPLE_RATE].name_index < 0) {
+        return;
+    }
+
     uint32_t limit = (uint32_t) get_global_DD_TRACE_RATE_LIMIT();
 
     if (!limit) {
diff --git a/tests/ext/limiter/001-limiter-disabled.phpt b/tests/ext/limiter/001-limiter-disabled.phpt
index bfa5f0d2d6..652e677f98 100644
--- a/tests/ext/limiter/001-limiter-disabled.phpt
+++ b/tests/ext/limiter/001-limiter-disabled.phpt
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ rate limiter disabled
 --ENV--
 DD_TRACE_GENERATE_ROOT_SPAN=1
 DD_TRACE_RATE_LIMIT=0
+DD_TRACE_SAMPLE_RATE=1
 --FILE--
 <?php
 $root = \DDTrace\root_span();
diff --git a/tests/ext/limiter/002-limiter-reached.phpt b/tests/ext/limiter/002-limiter-reached.phpt
index b3a1803ed7..b26685d403 100644
--- a/tests/ext/limiter/002-limiter-reached.phpt
+++ b/tests/ext/limiter/002-limiter-reached.phpt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ rate limiter reached
 DD_TRACE_AUTO_FLUSH_ENABLED=0
 DD_TRACE_GENERATE_ROOT_SPAN=0
 DD_TRACE_RATE_LIMIT=10
+DD_TRACE_SAMPLE_RATE=1
 --FILE--
 <?php
 $spans = [];