diff --git a/src/defaultsettings.cpp b/src/defaultsettings.cpp
index e29135501..9cd17ac91 100644
--- a/src/defaultsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/defaultsettings.cpp
@@ -133,7 +133,7 @@ void set_default_settings(Settings *settings)
 	settings->setDefault("anisotropic_filter", "false");
 	settings->setDefault("bilinear_filter", "false");
 	settings->setDefault("trilinear_filter", "false");
-	settings->setDefault("preload_item_visuals", "true");
+	settings->setDefault("preload_item_visuals", "false");
 	settings->setDefault("enable_bumpmapping", "false");
 	settings->setDefault("enable_parallax_occlusion", "false");
 	settings->setDefault("generate_normalmaps", "false");