diff --git a/make/autoconf/jdk-options.m4 b/make/autoconf/jdk-options.m4
index 0dca5d13313..54ead5ec1d7 100644
--- a/make/autoconf/jdk-options.m4
+++ b/make/autoconf/jdk-options.m4
@@ -197,9 +197,8 @@ AC_DEFUN_ONCE([JDKOPT_SETUP_JDK_OPTIONS],
   # three different page sizes: 4K, 64K, and if run on Mac m1 hardware, 16K.
   COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT_DEFAULT=false
   if test "x$OPENJDK_TARGET_OS" = "xlinux" && test "x$OPENJDK_TARGET_CPU" = "xaarch64"; then
-    COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT_DEFAULT=true
+    COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT_DEFAULT=auto
   fi
-  AC_SUBST(COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT_DEFAULT)
 
   # Compress jars
   COMPRESS_JARS=false
@@ -672,7 +671,7 @@ AC_DEFUN([JDKOPT_ENABLE_DISABLE_COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT],
   UTIL_ARG_ENABLE(NAME: compatible-cds-alignment, DEFAULT: $COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT_DEFAULT,
       RESULT: ENABLE_COMPATIBLE_CDS_ALIGNMENT,
       DESC: [enable use alternative compatible cds core region alignment],
-      DEFAULT_DESC: [disabled],
+      DEFAULT_DESC: [disabled except on linux-aarch64],
       CHECKING_MSG: [if compatible cds region alignment enabled],
       CHECK_AVAILABLE: [
         AC_MSG_CHECKING([if CDS archive is available])