diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.c
index ce045a8cf82c..f07e4252b708 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/i915_drv.c
@@ -67,11 +67,11 @@ module_param_named(i915_enable_rc6, i915_enable_rc6, int, 0600);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(i915_enable_rc6,
 		"Enable power-saving render C-state 6 (default: true)");
 
-unsigned int i915_enable_fbc __read_mostly = 1;
+unsigned int i915_enable_fbc __read_mostly = -1;
 module_param_named(i915_enable_fbc, i915_enable_fbc, int, 0600);
 MODULE_PARM_DESC(i915_enable_fbc,
 		"Enable frame buffer compression for power savings "
-		"(default: false)");
+		"(default: -1 (use per-chip default))");
 
 unsigned int i915_lvds_downclock __read_mostly = 0;
 module_param_named(lvds_downclock, i915_lvds_downclock, int, 0400);
diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c
index 9fb4a40bd9e5..04411ad2e779 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_display.c
@@ -1799,6 +1799,7 @@ static void intel_update_fbc(struct drm_device *dev)
 	struct drm_framebuffer *fb;
 	struct intel_framebuffer *intel_fb;
 	struct drm_i915_gem_object *obj;
+	int enable_fbc;
 
 	DRM_DEBUG_KMS("\n");
 
@@ -1839,8 +1840,15 @@ static void intel_update_fbc(struct drm_device *dev)
 	intel_fb = to_intel_framebuffer(fb);
 	obj = intel_fb->obj;
 
-	if (!i915_enable_fbc) {
-		DRM_DEBUG_KMS("fbc disabled per module param (default off)\n");
+	enable_fbc = i915_enable_fbc;
+	if (enable_fbc < 0) {
+		DRM_DEBUG_KMS("fbc set to per-chip default\n");
+		enable_fbc = 1;
+		if (INTEL_INFO(dev)->gen <= 5)
+			enable_fbc = 0;
+	}
+	if (!enable_fbc) {
+		DRM_DEBUG_KMS("fbc disabled per module param\n");
 		dev_priv->no_fbc_reason = FBC_MODULE_PARAM;
 		goto out_disable;
 	}