diff --git a/API.md b/API.md
index c5605e10..499a20fb 100644
--- a/API.md
+++ b/API.md
@@ -2713,7 +2713,7 @@ public readonly prune: boolean;
 ```
 
 - *Type:* boolean
-- *Default:* true
+- *Default:* false
 
 If `true`, then delete old objects in `destinationBucket`/`destinationKeyPrefix` **after** uploading new objects. Only applies if `zip` is `false`.
 
@@ -2721,6 +2721,9 @@ Old objects are determined by listing objects
 in bucket before creating new objects and finding the objects that aren't in
 the new objects.
 
+Note, if this is set to true then clients who have old HTML files (browser tabs opened before deployment)
+will reference JS, CSS files that do not exist in S3 reslting in 404s.
+
 ---
 
 ##### `putConfig`<sup>Optional</sup> <a name="putConfig" id="cdk-nextjs-standalone.NextjsBucketDeploymentProps.property.putConfig"></a>
@@ -7520,7 +7523,7 @@ public readonly prune: boolean;
 ```
 
 - *Type:* boolean
-- *Default:* true
+- *Default:* false
 
 If `true`, then delete old objects in `destinationBucket`/`destinationKeyPrefix` **after** uploading new objects.
 
@@ -7529,6 +7532,9 @@ Old objects are determined by listing objects
 in bucket before creating new objects and finding the objects that aren't in
 the new objects.
 
+Note, if this is set to true then clients who have old HTML files (browser tabs opened before deployment)
+will reference JS, CSS files that do not exist in S3 reslting in 404s.
+
 ---
 
 ##### `putConfig`<sup>Optional</sup> <a name="putConfig" id="cdk-nextjs-standalone.OptionalNextjsBucketDeploymentProps.property.putConfig"></a>
diff --git a/src/NextjsBucketDeployment.ts b/src/NextjsBucketDeployment.ts
index e2569f36..577abd7b 100644
--- a/src/NextjsBucketDeployment.ts
+++ b/src/NextjsBucketDeployment.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@ export interface NextjsBucketDeploymentProps {
    * Old objects are determined by listing objects
    * in bucket before creating new objects and finding the objects that aren't in
    * the new objects.
-   * @default true
+   *
+   * Note, if this is set to true then clients who have old HTML files (browser tabs opened before deployment)
+   * will reference JS, CSS files that do not exist in S3 reslting in 404s.
+   * @default false
    */
   readonly prune?: boolean | undefined;
   /**
@@ -143,7 +146,7 @@ export class NextjsBucketDeployment extends Construct {
       destinationBucketName: this.props.destinationBucket.bucketName,
       destinationKeyPrefix: this.props.destinationKeyPrefix,
       putConfig: this.props.putConfig,
-      prune: this.props.prune,
+      prune: this.props.prune ?? false,
       substitutionConfig: this.props.substitutionConfig,
       zip: this.props.zip,
     };
diff --git a/src/NextjsStaticAssets.ts b/src/NextjsStaticAssets.ts
index eecefd97..880badb9 100644
--- a/src/NextjsStaticAssets.ts
+++ b/src/NextjsStaticAssets.ts
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ export class NextjsStaticAssets extends Construct {
       // only put env vars that are placeholders in custom resource properties
       // to be replaced. other env vars were injected at build time.
       substitutionConfig: NextjsBucketDeployment.getSubstitutionConfig(this.buildEnvVars),
-      prune: this.props.prune === false ? false : true, // default to true
+      prune: this.props.prune, // defaults to false
       putConfig: {
         [allFiles]: {
           CacheControl: 'public, max-age=0, must-revalidate',
diff --git a/src/generated-structs/OptionalNextjsBucketDeploymentProps.ts b/src/generated-structs/OptionalNextjsBucketDeploymentProps.ts
index 39f0ca42..d0a6ab02 100644
--- a/src/generated-structs/OptionalNextjsBucketDeploymentProps.ts
+++ b/src/generated-structs/OptionalNextjsBucketDeploymentProps.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ export interface OptionalNextjsBucketDeploymentProps {
    * Old objects are determined by listing objects
    * in bucket before creating new objects and finding the objects that aren't in
    * the new objects.
-   * @default true
+   *
+   * Note, if this is set to true then clients who have old HTML files (browser tabs opened before deployment)
+   * will reference JS, CSS files that do not exist in S3 reslting in 404s.
+   * @default false
    * @stability stable
    */
   readonly prune?: boolean;