diff --git a/block/qcow2.h b/block/qcow2.h
index 2f8c1fd15c..0f0e3534bf 100644
--- a/block/qcow2.h
+++ b/block/qcow2.h
@@ -74,7 +74,11 @@
 /* Must be at least 4 to cover all cases of refcount table growth */
 #define MIN_REFCOUNT_CACHE_SIZE 4 /* clusters */
 
-#define DEFAULT_L2_CACHE_MAX_SIZE S_1MiB
+#ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
+#define DEFAULT_L2_CACHE_MAX_SIZE S_32MiB
+#else
+#define DEFAULT_L2_CACHE_MAX_SIZE S_8MiB
+#endif
 
 #define DEFAULT_CLUSTER_SIZE S_64KiB
 
diff --git a/docs/qcow2-cache.txt b/docs/qcow2-cache.txt
index 750447ea4f..1fcc0658b2 100644
--- a/docs/qcow2-cache.txt
+++ b/docs/qcow2-cache.txt
@@ -125,12 +125,15 @@ There are a few things that need to be taken into account:
  - Both caches must have a size that is a multiple of the cluster size
    (or the cache entry size: see "Using smaller cache sizes" below).
 
- - The maximum L2 cache size is 1 MB by default (enough for full coverage
-   of 8 GB images, with the default cluster size). This value can be
-   modified using the "l2-cache-size" option. QEMU will not use more memory
-   than needed to hold all of the image's L2 tables, regardless of this max.
-   value. The minimal L2 cache size is 2 clusters (or 2 cache entries, see
-   below).
+ - The maximum L2 cache size is 32 MB by default on Linux platforms (enough
+   for full coverage of 256 GB images, with the default cluster size). This
+   value can be modified using the "l2-cache-size" option. QEMU will not use
+   more memory than needed to hold all of the image's L2 tables, regardless
+   of this max. value.
+   On non-Linux platforms the maximal value is smaller by default (8 MB) and
+   this difference stems from the fact that on Linux the cache can be cleared
+   periodically if needed, using the "cache-clean-interval" option (see below).
+   The minimal L2 cache size is 2 clusters (or 2 cache entries, see below).
 
  - The default (and minimum) refcount cache size is 4 clusters.
 
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index 6eef0f5651..14aee78c6c 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -736,9 +736,9 @@ The maximum total size of the L2 table and refcount block caches in bytes
 
 @item l2-cache-size
 The maximum size of the L2 table cache in bytes
-(default: if cache-size is not specified - 1M; otherwise, as large as possible
-within the cache-size, while permitting the requested or the minimal refcount
-cache size)
+(default: if cache-size is not specified - 32M on Linux platforms, and 8M on
+non-Linux platforms; otherwise, as large as possible within the cache-size,
+while permitting the requested or the minimal refcount cache size)
 
 @item refcount-cache-size
 The maximum size of the refcount block cache in bytes