diff --git a/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb b/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb
index 52b6e828cfa..50e9418677c 100644
--- a/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb
+++ b/app/finders/issuable_finder.rb
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ class IssuableFinder
 
   def attempt_project_search_optimizations?
     params[:attempt_project_search_optimizations] &&
-      Feature.enabled?(:attempt_project_search_optimizations)
+      Feature.enabled?(:attempt_project_search_optimizations, default_enabled: true)
   end
 
   def count_key(value)