diff --git a/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.11.0.rst b/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.11.0.rst
index 22d6046774..37cbad3bf9 100644
--- a/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.11.0.rst
+++ b/docs/sphinx/source/whatsnew/v0.11.0.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ Breaking changes
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 * The deprecated ``pvlib.modelchain.basic_chain`` has now been removed. (:pull:`1862`)
 * Remove the `poa_horizontal_ratio` function and all of its references. (:issue:`1697`, :pull:`2021`)
+* The `leap_day` parameter in :py:func:`~pvlib.iotools.get_psm3`
+  now defaults to True instead of False. (:issue:`1481`, :pull:`1991`)
 
 
 Deprecations
diff --git a/pvlib/iotools/psm3.py b/pvlib/iotools/psm3.py
index 35fb2d362b..35141e3593 100644
--- a/pvlib/iotools/psm3.py
+++ b/pvlib/iotools/psm3.py
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
 
 
 def get_psm3(latitude, longitude, api_key, email, names='tmy', interval=60,
-             attributes=ATTRIBUTES, leap_day=None, full_name=PVLIB_PYTHON,
+             attributes=ATTRIBUTES, leap_day=True, full_name=PVLIB_PYTHON,
              affiliation=PVLIB_PYTHON, map_variables=None, url=None,
              timeout=30):
     """
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def get_psm3(latitude, longitude, api_key, email, names='tmy', interval=60,
         for lists of available fields. Alternatively, pvlib names may also be
         used (e.g. 'ghi' rather than 'GHI'); see :const:`REQUEST_VARIABLE_MAP`.
         To retrieve all available fields, set ``attributes=[]``.
-    leap_day : boolean, default False
+    leap_day : boolean, default : True
         include leap day in the results. Only used for single-year requests
         (i.e., it is ignored for tmy/tgy/tdy requests).
     full_name : str, default 'pvlib python'
@@ -179,14 +179,6 @@ def get_psm3(latitude, longitude, api_key, email, names='tmy', interval=60,
     # convert pvlib names in attributes to psm3 convention
     attributes = [REQUEST_VARIABLE_MAP.get(a, a) for a in attributes]
 
-    if (leap_day is None) and (not names.startswith('t')):
-        warnings.warn(
-            'The ``get_psm3`` function will default to leap_day=True '
-            'starting in pvlib 0.11.0. Specify leap_day=True '
-            'to enable this behavior now, or specify leap_day=False '
-            'to hide this warning.', pvlibDeprecationWarning)
-        leap_day = False
-
     # required query-string parameters for request to PSM3 API
     params = {
         'api_key': api_key,
diff --git a/pvlib/tests/iotools/test_psm3.py b/pvlib/tests/iotools/test_psm3.py
index 91bba7a830..cde88af851 100644
--- a/pvlib/tests/iotools/test_psm3.py
+++ b/pvlib/tests/iotools/test_psm3.py
@@ -203,14 +203,3 @@ def test_get_psm3_attribute_mapping(nrel_api_key):
 def test_psm3_variable_map_deprecation_warning(nrel_api_key):
     with pytest.warns(pvlibDeprecationWarning, match='names will be renamed'):
         _ = psm3.read_psm3(MANUAL_TEST_DATA)
-
-
-@pytest.mark.remote_data
-@pytest.mark.flaky(reruns=RERUNS, reruns_delay=RERUNS_DELAY)
-def test_psm3_leap_day_deprecation_warning(nrel_api_key):
-    with pytest.warns(pvlibDeprecationWarning,
-                      match='default to leap_day=True'):
-        _, _ = psm3.get_psm3(LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, nrel_api_key, PVLIB_EMAIL,
-                             names=2019, interval=60,
-                             attributes=['ghi', 'wind_speed'],
-                             map_variables=True)