diff --git a/armi/settings/fwSettings/databaseSettings.py b/armi/settings/fwSettings/databaseSettings.py
index 3c527b1ae..cef35da03 100644
--- a/armi/settings/fwSettings/databaseSettings.py
+++ b/armi/settings/fwSettings/databaseSettings.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def defineSettings():
         ),
         setting.Setting(
             CONF_SYNC_AFTER_WRITE,
-            default=False,
+            default=True,
             label="Sync Database After Write",
             description=(
                 "Copy the output database from the fast scratch space to the shared "
diff --git a/doc/release/0.4.rst b/doc/release/0.4.rst
index 5d6e664dc..c8c0ead9e 100644
--- a/doc/release/0.4.rst
+++ b/doc/release/0.4.rst
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ API Changes
 #. ``Block.getPinCoordinates`` returns an ``(N, 3)`` array, rather than a length ``N`` list of three-length arrays. (`PR#1943 <https://github.com/terrapower/armi/pull/1943>`_)
 #. Removing ``globalFluxInterface.DoseResultsMapper`` class. (`PR#1952 <https://github.com/terrapower/armi/pull/1952>`_)
 #. Removing setting ``mpiTasksPerNode`` and renaming ``numProcessors`` to ``nTasks``. (`PR#1958 <https://github.com/terrapower/armi/pull/1958>`_)
+#. Changing ``synDbAfterWrite`` default to ``True``. (`PR#1968 <https://github.com/terrapower/armi/pull/1968>`_)
 #. TBD
 
 Bug Fixes
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index fb5d848c2..fac5685aa 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ authors = [
 ]
 dependencies = [
     "coverage>=7.2.0", # Code coverage tool. Sadly baked into every Case.
-    "h5py>=3.9,<3.12 ; python_version >= '3.11.0'", # Needed because our database files are H5 format
+    "h5py>=3.9 ; python_version >= '3.11.0'", # Needed because our database files are H5 format
     "h5py>=3.0,<=3.9 ; python_version < '3.11.0'",
     "htmltree>=0.7.6", # Our reports have HTML output
     "matplotlib>=3.5.3,<3.8.0", # Important plotting library