diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 2e95edfbd8..425e958fe8 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -2133,7 +2133,7 @@ static void reset_arguments(void) {
         arg_default_blockio_accounting = false;
         arg_default_memory_accounting = MEMORY_ACCOUNTING_DEFAULT;
         arg_default_tasks_accounting = true;
-        arg_default_tasks_max = UINT64_MAX;
+        arg_default_tasks_max = system_tasks_max_scale(DEFAULT_TASKS_MAX_PERCENTAGE, 100U);
         arg_machine_id = (sd_id128_t) {};
         arg_cad_burst_action = EMERGENCY_ACTION_REBOOT_FORCE;
         arg_default_oom_policy = OOM_STOP;
@@ -2149,8 +2149,6 @@ static int parse_configuration(const struct rlimit *saved_rlimit_nofile,
         assert(saved_rlimit_nofile);
         assert(saved_rlimit_memlock);
 
-        arg_default_tasks_max = system_tasks_max_scale(DEFAULT_TASKS_MAX_PERCENTAGE, 100U);
-
         /* Assign configuration defaults */
         reset_arguments();