diff --git a/components/mpas-ocean/bld/namelist_files/namelist_defaults_mpaso.xml b/components/mpas-ocean/bld/namelist_files/namelist_defaults_mpaso.xml
index 3b64fce70785..d86a29620d5e 100644
--- a/components/mpas-ocean/bld/namelist_files/namelist_defaults_mpaso.xml
+++ b/components/mpas-ocean/bld/namelist_files/namelist_defaults_mpaso.xml
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@
 <config_Redi_N2_based_taper_min>0.1</config_Redi_N2_based_taper_min>
 <config_Redi_N2_based_taper_limit_term1>.true.</config_Redi_N2_based_taper_limit_term1>
 <config_Redi_use_quasi_monotone_limiter>.true.</config_Redi_use_quasi_monotone_limiter>
-<config_Redi_quasi_monotone_safety_factor>1.0</config_Redi_quasi_monotone_safety_factor>
+<config_Redi_quasi_monotone_safety_factor>0.9</config_Redi_quasi_monotone_safety_factor>
 <config_Redi_min_layers_diag_terms>6</config_Redi_min_layers_diag_terms>
 <config_Redi_min_layers_diag_terms ocn_grid="ARRM10to60E2r1">15</config_Redi_min_layers_diag_terms>
 <config_Redi_horizontal_taper>'ramp'</config_Redi_horizontal_taper>
diff --git a/components/mpas-ocean/src/Registry.xml b/components/mpas-ocean/src/Registry.xml
index a21d1de90a15..fdfa0cb2dea8 100644
--- a/components/mpas-ocean/src/Registry.xml
+++ b/components/mpas-ocean/src/Registry.xml
@@ -326,11 +326,11 @@
 					description="If true, the N2 limiting is applied to the horizontal diffusion term"
 					possible_values=".true. or .false."
 		/>
-		<nml_option name="config_Redi_use_quasi_monotone_limiter" type="logical" default_value=".false."
+		<nml_option name="config_Redi_use_quasi_monotone_limiter" type="logical" default_value=".true."
 					description="If true, fluxes are reduced to prevent tracers from violating monotonicity. Cross-term fluxes are scaled toward zero to prevent tracers from under/overshooting the min/max values in adjacent cells and layers"
 					possible_values=".true. or .false."
 		/>
-		<nml_option name="config_Redi_quasi_monotone_safety_factor" type="real" default_value="1.0"
+		<nml_option name="config_Redi_quasi_monotone_safety_factor" type="real" default_value="0.9"
 					description="A safety factor applied to flux scaling when monotonicity is violated. Smaller values scale fluxes toward zero more aggressively."
 					possible_values="A value between 0 and 1"
 		/>