diff --git a/drivers/scsi/isci/host.c b/drivers/scsi/isci/host.c
index 670ecb456d48..7e4d709dc201 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/isci/host.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/isci/host.c
@@ -1676,8 +1676,9 @@ static void sci_controller_set_default_config_parameters(struct isci_host *ihost
 
 	/* Initialize all of the phy parameter information. */
 	for (index = 0; index < SCI_MAX_PHYS; index++) {
-		/* Default to 6G (i.e. Gen 3) for now. */
-		ihost->user_parameters.phys[index].max_speed_generation = 3;
+		/* Default to 3G (i.e. Gen 2). */
+		ihost->user_parameters.phys[index].max_speed_generation =
+			SCIC_SDS_PARM_GEN2_SPEED;
 
 		/* the frequencies cannot be 0 */
 		ihost->user_parameters.phys[index].align_insertion_frequency = 0x7f;
diff --git a/drivers/scsi/isci/init.c b/drivers/scsi/isci/init.c
index 3c4ddad97053..2bcfb40ae9ad 100644
--- a/drivers/scsi/isci/init.c
+++ b/drivers/scsi/isci/init.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ u16 stp_inactive_to = 5;
 module_param(stp_inactive_to, ushort, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(stp_inactive_to, "STP inactivity timeout (100us incr)");
 
-unsigned char phy_gen = 3;
+unsigned char phy_gen = SCIC_SDS_PARM_GEN2_SPEED;
 module_param(phy_gen, byte, 0);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(phy_gen, "PHY generation (1: 1.5Gbps 2: 3.0Gbps 3: 6.0Gbps)");