diff --git a/core/bin/external_node/src/config/mod.rs b/core/bin/external_node/src/config/mod.rs
index f70c6423f055..62508a80cc48 100644
--- a/core/bin/external_node/src/config/mod.rs
+++ b/core/bin/external_node/src/config/mod.rs
@@ -391,8 +391,8 @@ pub(crate) struct OptionalENConfig {
     /// may be temporarily retained for other reasons; e.g., a batch cannot be pruned until it is executed on L1,
     /// which happens roughly 24 hours after its generation on the mainnet. Thus, in practice this value can specify
     /// the retention period greater than that implicitly imposed by other criteria (e.g., 7 or 30 days).
-    /// If not specified or set to 0, L1 batches will not be retained based on their timestamp.
-    #[serde(default)]
+    /// If set to 0, L1 batches will not be retained based on their timestamp. The default value is 1 hour.
+    #[serde(default = "OptionalENConfig::default_pruning_data_retention_sec")]
     pruning_data_retention_sec: u64,
 }
 
@@ -541,6 +541,10 @@ impl OptionalENConfig {
         NonZeroU64::new(60).unwrap()
     }
 
+    fn default_pruning_data_retention_sec() -> u64 {
+        3_600 // 1 hour
+    }
+
     pub fn polling_interval(&self) -> Duration {
         Duration::from_millis(self.polling_interval)
     }
diff --git a/core/tests/snapshot-recovery-test/tests/snapshot-recovery.test.ts b/core/tests/snapshot-recovery-test/tests/snapshot-recovery.test.ts
index 2855f1d06d95..c3bf517cba03 100644
--- a/core/tests/snapshot-recovery-test/tests/snapshot-recovery.test.ts
+++ b/core/tests/snapshot-recovery-test/tests/snapshot-recovery.test.ts
@@ -354,7 +354,8 @@ describe('snapshot recovery', () => {
 
         const pruningParams = {
             EN_PRUNING_ENABLED: 'true',
-            EN_PRUNING_REMOVAL_DELAY_SEC: '3',
+            EN_PRUNING_REMOVAL_DELAY_SEC: '2',
+            EN_PRUNING_DATA_RETENTION_SEC: '0', // immediately prune executed batches
             EN_PRUNING_CHUNK_SIZE: '1'
         };
         externalNodeEnv = { ...externalNodeEnv, ...pruningParams };