diff --git a/.github/workflows/action.yml b/.github/workflows/action.yml
index 69535243..54108fa5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/action.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/action.yml
@@ -19,12 +19,12 @@ jobs:
             macos-latest-clang-autotools,
             macos-latest-clang-cmake,
             windows-latest-cmake,
-            ubuntu-latest-gcc-autotools-64-bit-words,
-            ubuntu-latest-clang-autotools-64-bit-words,
-            ubuntu-latest-gcc-cmake-64-bit-words,
-            ubuntu-latest-clang-cmake-64-bit-words,
-            macos-latest-clang-autotools-64-bit-words,
-            macos-latest-clang-cmake-64-bit-words
+            ubuntu-latest-gcc-autotools-32-bit-words,
+            ubuntu-latest-clang-autotools-32-bit-words,
+            ubuntu-latest-gcc-cmake-32-bit-words,
+            ubuntu-latest-clang-cmake-32-bit-words,
+            macos-latest-clang-autotools-32-bit-words,
+            macos-latest-clang-cmake-32-bit-words
           ]
         include:
           - name: ubuntu-latest-gcc-autotools
@@ -79,47 +79,47 @@ jobs:
             build-system: cmake
             configure-opts: '-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON'
 
-          - name: ubuntu-latest-gcc-autotools-64-bit-words
+          - name: ubuntu-latest-gcc-autotools-32-bit-words
             os: ubuntu-latest
             cc: gcc
             cxx: g++
             build-system: autotools
-            configure-opts: --enable-64-bit-words
+            configure-opts: --disable-64-bit-words
 
-          - name: ubuntu-latest-clang-autotools-64-bit-words
+          - name: ubuntu-latest-clang-autotools-32-bit-words
             os: ubuntu-latest
             cc: clang
             cxx: clang++
             build-system: autotools
-            configure-opts: --enable-64-bit-words
+            configure-opts: --disable-64-bit-words
 
-          - name: ubuntu-latest-gcc-cmake-64-bit-words
+          - name: ubuntu-latest-gcc-cmake-32-bit-words
             os: ubuntu-latest
             cc: gcc
             cxx: g++
             build-system: cmake
-            configure-opts: -DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=ON
+            configure-opts: -DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=OFF
 
-          - name: ubuntu-latest-clang-cmake-64-bit-words
+          - name: ubuntu-latest-clang-cmake-32-bit-words
             os: ubuntu-latest
             cc: clang
             cxx: clang++
             build-system: cmake
-            configure-opts: -DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=ON
+            configure-opts: -DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=OFF
 
-          - name: macos-latest-clang-autotools-64-bit-words
+          - name: macos-latest-clang-autotools-32-bit-words
             os: macos-latest
             cc: clang
             cxx: clang++
             build-system: autotools
-            configure-opts: --enable-64-bit-words
+            configure-opts: --disable-64-bit-words
 
-          - name: macos-latest-clang-cmake-64-bit-words
+          - name: macos-latest-clang-cmake-32-bit-words
             os: macos-latest
             cc: clang
             cxx: clang++
             build-system: cmake
-            configure-opts: -DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=ON
+            configure-opts: -DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=OFF
 
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
 
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index f635bad3..a4de8301 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ jobs:
     dist: focal
     arch: arm64
     compiler: gcc
-    env: BUILD_SYSTEM="cmake" CONFIGURE_OPTS=-DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=ON
+    env: BUILD_SYSTEM="cmake" CONFIGURE_OPTS=-DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=OFF
   - os: linux
     dist: focal
     arch: ppc64le
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ jobs:
     dist: focal
     arch: ppc64le
     compiler: gcc
-    env: BUILD_SYSTEM="cmake" CONFIGURE_OPTS=-DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=ON
+    env: BUILD_SYSTEM="cmake" CONFIGURE_OPTS=-DENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS=OFF
 
 install:
   - if [ $TRAVIS_OS_NAME = linux ]; then sudo apt-get -y install libtool-bin libogg-dev; fi
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6842b8ff..5358fa8f 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -265,12 +265,12 @@ esac
 
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(64-bit-words,
-	AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-64-bit-words],[Set FLAC__BYTES_PER_WORD to 8 (4 is the default)]))
-if test "x$enable_64_bit_words" = xyes ; then
-	AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS],1,[Set FLAC__BYTES_PER_WORD to 8 (4 is the default)])
+	AS_HELP_STRING([--disable-64-bit-words],[Set FLAC__BYTES_PER_WORD to 4 (8 is the default)]))
+if test "x$enable_64_bit_words" = xno ; then
+	AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS],0,[Set FLAC__BYTES_PER_WORD to 8 (this is the default)])
 else
-	AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS],0)
-	fi
+	AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED([ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS],1)
+fi
 AC_SUBST(ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS)
 
 AC_ARG_ENABLE(valgrind-testing,
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 97e397aa..262feead 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.11)
 
-option(ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS "Set FLAC__BYTES_PER_WORD to 8 (4 is the default)" OFF)
+option(ENABLE_64_BIT_WORDS "Set FLAC__BYTES_PER_WORD to 8, for 64-bit machines. For 32-bit machines, turning this off might give a tiny speed improvement" ON)
 option(BUILD_UTILS "Build utils" OFF)
 
 add_subdirectory("libFLAC")