diff --git a/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/helpers/miq-components/cr.go b/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/helpers/miq-components/cr.go
index 3ae7ef115..7e2aa6817 100644
--- a/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/helpers/miq-components/cr.go
+++ b/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/helpers/miq-components/cr.go
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func databaseVolumeCapacity(cr *miqv1alpha1.ManageIQ) string {
 
 func deployMessagingService(cr *miqv1alpha1.ManageIQ) bool {
 	if cr.Spec.DeployMessagingService == nil {
-		return false
+		return true
 	} else {
 		return *cr.Spec.DeployMessagingService
 	}
diff --git a/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/manageiq_types.go b/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/manageiq_types.go
index 386c57fc0..5e008ba2d 100644
--- a/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/manageiq_types.go
+++ b/manageiq-operator/api/v1alpha1/manageiq_types.go
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ type ManageIQSpec struct {
 	// +optional
 	DatabaseVolumeCapacity string `json:"databaseVolumeCapacity,omitempty"`
 
-	// Flag to indicate if Kafka and Zookeeper should be deployed (default: false)
+	// Deprecated: Flag to indicate if Kafka and Zookeeper should be deployed (default: true)
 	// +optional
 	DeployMessagingService *bool `json:"deployMessagingService,omitempty"`
 
diff --git a/manageiq-operator/config/crd/bases/manageiq.org_manageiqs.yaml b/manageiq-operator/config/crd/bases/manageiq.org_manageiqs.yaml
index 06a3a256a..cb2b00bbd 100644
--- a/manageiq-operator/config/crd/bases/manageiq.org_manageiqs.yaml
+++ b/manageiq-operator/config/crd/bases/manageiq.org_manageiqs.yaml
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ spec:
                 description: 'Database volume size (default: 15Gi)'
                 type: string
               deployMessagingService:
-                description: 'Flag to indicate if Kafka and Zookeeper should be deployed
-                  (default: false)'
+                description: 'Deprecated: Flag to indicate if Kafka and Zookeeper
+                  should be deployed (default: true)'
                 type: boolean
               enableApplicationLocalLogin:
                 description: 'Flag to allow logging into the application without SSO