diff --git a/daemon/face/face-system.cpp b/daemon/face/face-system.cpp
index 6430796..ebdce9c 100644
--- a/daemon/face/face-system.cpp
+++ b/daemon/face/face-system.cpp
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@
     for (const auto& pair : *generalSection) {
       const std::string& key = pair.first;
       if (key == "enable_congestion_marking") {
-        // false by default
         context.generalConfig.wantCongestionMarking = ConfigFile::parseYesNo(pair, "face_system.general");
       }
       else {
diff --git a/daemon/face/face-system.hpp b/daemon/face/face-system.hpp
index 1a49fce..87c0fc3 100644
--- a/daemon/face/face-system.hpp
+++ b/daemon/face/face-system.hpp
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
    */
   struct GeneralConfig
   {
-    bool wantCongestionMarking = false;
+    bool wantCongestionMarking = true;
   };
 
   /** \brief context for processing a config section in ProtocolFactory
diff --git a/docs/manpages.rst b/docs/manpages.rst
index e2e0582..1e14cbf 100644
--- a/docs/manpages.rst
+++ b/docs/manpages.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
    manpages/nfdc-status
    manpages/nfdc-face
    manpages/nfdc-route
+   manpages/nfdc-cs
    manpages/nfdc-strategy
    manpages/nfd-status
    schema
diff --git a/docs/manpages/nfdc-face.rst b/docs/manpages/nfdc-face.rst
index f31a24f..37c6c06 100644
--- a/docs/manpages/nfdc-face.rst
+++ b/docs/manpages/nfdc-face.rst
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@
 Reliability is disabled by default.
 The send queue congestion detection and signaling feature may be explicitly enabled by specifying
 **congestion-marking on** or explicitly disabled by specifying **congestion-marking off**.
-Congestion marking is disabled by default.
+Congestion marking is enabled by default on TCP, UDP, and Unix stream faces and is disabled by
+default on all other face types.
 Parameters for this feature can set with the **congestion-marking-interval** option (specified in
 milliseconds) and the **default-congestion-threshold** option (specified in bytes).
 
@@ -117,9 +118,12 @@
 nfdc face create remote udp://router.example.net reliability on
     Create a face with the specified remote FaceUri and enable NDNLP reliability.
 
-nfdc face create remote udp://router.example.net congestion-marking on congestion-marking-interval 100 default-congestion-threshold 65536
-    Create a face with the specified remote FaceUri and enable congestion marking. Set the base
-    congestion marking interval to 100 ms and the default congestion threshold to 65536 bytes.
+nfdc face create remote udp://router.example.net congestion-marking-interval 100 default-congestion-threshold 65536
+    Create a face with the specified remote FaceUri. Set the base congestion marking interval to
+    100 ms and the default congestion threshold to 65536 bytes.
+
+nfdc face create remote udp://router.example.net congestion-marking off
+    Create a face with the specified remote FaceUri and explicitly disable congestion marking.
 
 nfdc face destroy 300
     Destroy the face whose FaceId is 300.
diff --git a/nfd.conf.sample.in b/nfd.conf.sample.in
index 0370cf9..7ac472b 100644
--- a/nfd.conf.sample.in
+++ b/nfd.conf.sample.in
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
   ; This section contains options that apply to multiple face protocols.
   general
   {
-    enable_congestion_marking no ; set to 'yes' to perform congestion marking on supported faces, default 'no'
+    enable_congestion_marking yes ; set to 'no' to disable congestion marking on supported faces, default 'yes'
   }
 
   ; The unix section contains settings for Unix stream faces and channels.
diff --git a/tests/daemon/mgmt/face-manager-create-face.t.cpp b/tests/daemon/mgmt/face-manager-create-face.t.cpp
index 698a525..87edbe2 100644
--- a/tests/daemon/mgmt/face-manager-create-face.t.cpp
+++ b/tests/daemon/mgmt/face-manager-create-face.t.cpp
@@ -330,14 +330,20 @@
                             actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LOCAL_FIELDS_ENABLED));
           BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(expectedParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LP_RELIABILITY_ENABLED),
                             actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LP_RELIABILITY_ENABLED));
-          BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(expectedParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED),
-                            actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED));
+          if (expectedParams.hasFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED)) {
+            BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(expectedParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED),
+                              actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED));
+          }
+          else {
+            BOOST_CHECK(actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED));
+          }
         }
         else {
-          // local fields are disabled by default
-          BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LOCAL_FIELDS_ENABLED), false);
-          BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LP_RELIABILITY_ENABLED), false);
-          BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED), false);
+          // local fields and LpReliability are disabled by default, congestion marking is enabled
+          // by default on TCP, UDP, and Unix stream
+          BOOST_CHECK(!actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LOCAL_FIELDS_ENABLED));
+          BOOST_CHECK(!actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_LP_RELIABILITY_ENABLED));
+          BOOST_CHECK(actualParams.getFlagBit(ndn::nfd::BIT_CONGESTION_MARKING_ENABLED));
         }
 
         if (expectedParams.hasBaseCongestionMarkingInterval()) {