diff --git a/src/tree/fast_hist_param.h b/src/tree/fast_hist_param.h
index 7bd3be9f2..5ca9e0b5e 100644
--- a/src/tree/fast_hist_param.h
+++ b/src/tree/fast_hist_param.h
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ struct FastHistParam : public dmlc::Parameter<FastHistParam> {
                   "advanced use");
     DMLC_DECLARE_FIELD(sparse_threshold).set_range(0, 1.0).set_default(0.2)
         .describe("percentage threshold for treating a feature as sparse");
-    DMLC_DECLARE_FIELD(enable_feature_grouping).set_lower_bound(0).set_default(1)
+    DMLC_DECLARE_FIELD(enable_feature_grouping).set_lower_bound(0).set_default(0)
         .describe("if >0, enable feature grouping to ameliorate work imbalance "
                   "among worker threads");
     DMLC_DECLARE_FIELD(max_conflict_rate).set_range(0, 1.0).set_default(0)