diff --git a/cloudinit/config/cc_grub_dpkg.py b/cloudinit/config/cc_grub_dpkg.py
index 6ab7ac48e6a..7107f1fe3c2 100644
--- a/cloudinit/config/cc_grub_dpkg.py
+++ b/cloudinit/config/cc_grub_dpkg.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
     "id": "cc_grub_dpkg",
     "distros": ["ubuntu", "debian"],
     "frequency": PER_INSTANCE,
-    "activate_by_schema_keys": [],
+    "activate_by_schema_keys": ["grub_dpkg", "grub-dpkg"],
 }
 
 LOG = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def handle(name: str, cfg: Config, cloud: Cloud, args: list) -> None:
     if not mycfg:
         mycfg = {}
 
-    enabled = mycfg.get("enabled", True)
+    enabled = mycfg.get("enabled", False)
     if util.is_false(enabled):
         LOG.debug("%s disabled by config grub_dpkg/enabled=%s", name, enabled)
         return
diff --git a/cloudinit/config/schemas/schema-cloud-config-v1.json b/cloudinit/config/schemas/schema-cloud-config-v1.json
index 3d1c1a89697..fffa04b5266 100644
--- a/cloudinit/config/schemas/schema-cloud-config-v1.json
+++ b/cloudinit/config/schemas/schema-cloud-config-v1.json
@@ -1611,8 +1611,8 @@
           "properties": {
             "enabled": {
               "type": "boolean",
-              "default": true,
-              "description": "Whether to configure which device is used as the target for grub installation. Default: ``true``."
+              "default": false,
+              "description": "Whether to configure which device is used as the target for grub installation. Default: ``false``."
             },
             "grub-pc/install_devices": {
               "type": "string",
diff --git a/tests/unittests/config/test_cc_grub_dpkg.py b/tests/unittests/config/test_cc_grub_dpkg.py
index dfefca47429..1859cab3c0c 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/config/test_cc_grub_dpkg.py
+++ b/tests/unittests/config/test_cc_grub_dpkg.py
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def test_handle(
         """Test setting of correct debconf database entries"""
         m_is_efi_booted.return_value = is_uefi
         m_fetch_idevs.return_value = fetch_idevs_output
-        cfg = {"grub_dpkg": {}}
+        cfg = {"grub_dpkg": {"enabled": True}}
         if cfg_idevs is not None:
             cfg["grub_dpkg"]["grub-pc/install_devices"] = cfg_idevs
         if cfg_idevs_empty is not None: