diff --git a/docs/content/append-table/streaming.md b/docs/content/append-table/streaming.md
index c3d64a6500f0..3758c7f569db 100644
--- a/docs/content/append-table/streaming.md
+++ b/docs/content/append-table/streaming.md
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ control the strategy of compaction:
         </tr>
         <tr>
             <td><h5>compaction.max.file-num</h5></td>
-            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">50</td>
+            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">5</td>
             <td>Integer</td>
             <td>For file set [f_0,...,f_N], the maximum file number to trigger a compaction for append table, even if sum(size(f_i)) &lt; targetFileSize. This value avoids pending too much small files, which slows down the performance.</td>
         </tr>
diff --git a/docs/layouts/shortcodes/generated/core_configuration.html b/docs/layouts/shortcodes/generated/core_configuration.html
index bc6f8b5c4efc..c2eba113a5d0 100644
--- a/docs/layouts/shortcodes/generated/core_configuration.html
+++ b/docs/layouts/shortcodes/generated/core_configuration.html
@@ -124,9 +124,9 @@
         </tr>
         <tr>
             <td><h5>compaction.max.file-num</h5></td>
-            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">50</td>
+            <td style="word-wrap: break-word;">(none)</td>
             <td>Integer</td>
-            <td>For file set [f_0,...,f_N], the maximum file number to trigger a compaction for append-only table, even if sum(size(f_i)) &lt; targetFileSize. This value avoids pending too much small files, which slows down the performance.</td>
+            <td>For file set [f_0,...,f_N], the maximum file number to trigger a compaction for append-only table, even if sum(size(f_i)) &lt; targetFileSize. This value avoids pending too much small files.<ul><li>Default value of Append Table is '50'.</li><li>Default value of Bucketed Append Table is '5'.</li></ul></td>
         </tr>
         <tr>
             <td><h5>compaction.min.file-num</h5></td>
diff --git a/paimon-common/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/CoreOptions.java b/paimon-common/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/CoreOptions.java
index 156915e2365d..bda7b2ce3297 100644
--- a/paimon-common/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/CoreOptions.java
+++ b/paimon-common/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/CoreOptions.java
@@ -521,12 +521,18 @@ public class CoreOptions implements Serializable {
     public static final ConfigOption<Integer> COMPACTION_MAX_FILE_NUM =
             key("compaction.max.file-num")
                     .intType()
-                    .defaultValue(50)
+                    .noDefaultValue()
                     .withFallbackKeys("compaction.early-max.file-num")
                     .withDescription(
-                            "For file set [f_0,...,f_N], the maximum file number to trigger a compaction "
-                                    + "for append-only table, even if sum(size(f_i)) < targetFileSize. This value "
-                                    + "avoids pending too much small files, which slows down the performance.");
+                            Description.builder()
+                                    .text(
+                                            "For file set [f_0,...,f_N], the maximum file number to trigger a compaction "
+                                                    + "for append-only table, even if sum(size(f_i)) < targetFileSize. This value "
+                                                    + "avoids pending too much small files.")
+                                    .list(
+                                            text("Default value of Append Table is '50'."),
+                                            text("Default value of Bucketed Append Table is '5'."))
+                                    .build());
 
     public static final ConfigOption<ChangelogProducer> CHANGELOG_PRODUCER =
             key("changelog-producer")
@@ -1671,8 +1677,8 @@ public int compactionMinFileNum() {
         return options.get(COMPACTION_MIN_FILE_NUM);
     }
 
-    public int compactionMaxFileNum() {
-        return options.get(COMPACTION_MAX_FILE_NUM);
+    public Optional<Integer> compactionMaxFileNum() {
+        return options.getOptional(COMPACTION_MAX_FILE_NUM);
     }
 
     public long dynamicBucketTargetRowNum() {
diff --git a/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/append/AppendOnlyTableCompactionCoordinator.java b/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/append/AppendOnlyTableCompactionCoordinator.java
index 07ed3c9dd930..d54221403d66 100644
--- a/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/append/AppendOnlyTableCompactionCoordinator.java
+++ b/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/append/AppendOnlyTableCompactionCoordinator.java
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ public AppendOnlyTableCompactionCoordinator(
         this.targetFileSize = coreOptions.targetFileSize(false);
         this.compactionFileSize = coreOptions.compactionFileSize(false);
         this.minFileNum = coreOptions.compactionMinFileNum();
-        this.maxFileNum = coreOptions.compactionMaxFileNum();
+        // this is global compaction, avoid too many compaction tasks
+        this.maxFileNum = coreOptions.compactionMaxFileNum().orElse(50);
     }
 
     public List<AppendOnlyCompactionTask> run() {
diff --git a/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/operation/AppendOnlyFileStoreWrite.java b/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/operation/AppendOnlyFileStoreWrite.java
index 94744887bbc7..322c303be7bd 100644
--- a/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/operation/AppendOnlyFileStoreWrite.java
+++ b/paimon-core/src/main/java/org/apache/paimon/operation/AppendOnlyFileStoreWrite.java
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public AppendOnlyFileStoreWrite(
         this.pathFactory = pathFactory;
         this.targetFileSize = options.targetFileSize(false);
         this.compactionMinFileNum = options.compactionMinFileNum();
-        this.compactionMaxFileNum = options.compactionMaxFileNum();
+        this.compactionMaxFileNum = options.compactionMaxFileNum().orElse(5);
         this.commitForceCompact = options.commitForceCompact();
         this.skipCompaction = options.writeOnly();
         this.fileCompression = options.fileCompression();