diff --git a/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert.go b/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert.go
index 63983794a554..c9eed84502a3 100644
--- a/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert.go
+++ b/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert.go
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ func resourceArmMonitorMetricAlert() *schema.Resource {
 			"auto_mitigate": {
 				Type:     schema.TypeBool,
 				Optional: true,
-				Default:  false,
+				Default:  true,
 			},
 
 			"description": {
diff --git a/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/tests/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert_test.go b/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/tests/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert_test.go
index 3e94e9972d15..0a6c0ccccd2a 100644
--- a/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/tests/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert_test.go
+++ b/azurerm/internal/services/monitor/tests/resource_arm_monitor_metric_alert_test.go
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ func TestAccAzureRMMonitorMetricAlert_complete(t *testing.T) {
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					testCheckAzureRMMonitorMetricAlertExists(data.ResourceName),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "enabled", "true"),
-					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "true"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "false"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "severity", "4"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "description", "This is a complete metric alert resource."),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "frequency", "PT30M"),
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ func TestAccAzureRMMonitorMetricAlert_basicAndCompleteUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					testCheckAzureRMMonitorMetricAlertExists(data.ResourceName),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "enabled", "true"),
-					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "false"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "true"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "severity", "3"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "description", ""),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "frequency", "PT1M"),
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ func TestAccAzureRMMonitorMetricAlert_basicAndCompleteUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					testCheckAzureRMMonitorMetricAlertExists(data.ResourceName),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "enabled", "true"),
-					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "true"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "false"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "severity", "4"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "description", "This is a complete metric alert resource."),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "frequency", "PT30M"),
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ func TestAccAzureRMMonitorMetricAlert_basicAndCompleteUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 				Check: resource.ComposeTestCheckFunc(
 					testCheckAzureRMMonitorMetricAlertExists(data.ResourceName),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "enabled", "true"),
-					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "false"),
+					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "auto_mitigate", "true"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "severity", "3"),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "description", ""),
 					resource.TestCheckResourceAttr(data.ResourceName, "frequency", "PT1M"),
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ resource "azurerm_monitor_metric_alert" "test" {
   resource_group_name = "${azurerm_resource_group.test.name}"
   scopes              = ["${azurerm_storage_account.test.id}"]
   enabled             = true
-  auto_mitigate       = true
+  auto_mitigate       = false
   severity            = 4
   description         = "This is a complete metric alert resource."
   frequency           = "PT30M"
diff --git a/website/docs/r/monitor_metric_alert.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/monitor_metric_alert.html.markdown
index 7baf7b06d2ab..3947465d4bf1 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/monitor_metric_alert.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/monitor_metric_alert.html.markdown
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 * `criteria` - (Required) One or more `criteria` blocks as defined below.
 * `action` - (Optional) One or more `action` blocks as defined below.
 * `enabled` - (Optional) Should this Metric Alert be enabled? Defaults to `true`.
-* `auto_mitigate` - (Optional) Should the alerts in this Metric Alert be auto resolved? Defaults to `false`.
+* `auto_mitigate` - (Optional) Should the alerts in this Metric Alert be auto resolved? Defaults to `true`.
 * `description` - (Optional) The description of this Metric Alert.
 * `frequency` - (Optional) The evaluation frequency of this Metric Alert, represented in ISO 8601 duration format. Possible values are `PT1M`, `PT5M`, `PT15M`, `PT30M` and `PT1H`. Defaults to `PT1M`.
 * `severity` - (Optional) The severity of this Metric Alert. Possible values are `0`, `1`, `2`, `3` and `4`. Defaults to `3`.