diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinFeature.kt b/src/main/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinFeature.kt
index 8eb1badc..32196b21 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinFeature.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinFeature.kt
@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ enum class KotlinFeature(internal val enabledByDefault: Boolean) {
      * Internally, it will be the same as if [JsonSetter] (contentNulls = FAIL) had been granted.
      *
      * Benchmarks show that it can check for illegal nulls with throughput nearly identical to the default (see [jackson-module-kotlin#719]).
+     *
+     * Since 3.0, this option is enabled by default.
      */
-    StrictNullChecks(enabledByDefault = false),
+    StrictNullChecks(enabledByDefault = true),
 
     /**
      * By enabling this feature, the property name on Kotlin is used as the implicit name for the getter.
@@ -81,8 +83,6 @@ enum class KotlinFeature(internal val enabledByDefault: Boolean) {
      * This is a temporary option for a phased backend migration,
      * which will eventually be merged into [StrictNullChecks].
      * Also, specifying both this and [StrictNullChecks] is not permitted.
-     *
-     * Since 3.0, this option is enabled by default.
      */
     @Deprecated(
         level = DeprecationLevel.WARNING,
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/DslTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/DslTest.kt
index 776a7c9d..cb4087fd 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/DslTest.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/DslTest.kt
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class DslTest {
             enable(NullToEmptyMap)
             enable(NullIsSameAsDefault)
             enable(SingletonSupport)
-            enable(NewStrictNullChecks)
+            enable(KotlinFeature.StrictNullChecks)
         }
 
         assertNotNull(module)
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinModuleTest.kt b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinModuleTest.kt
index c0337a9e..cfbdc6b9 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinModuleTest.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/KotlinModuleTest.kt
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class KotlinModuleTest {
                 enable(StrictNullChecks)
             }.strictNullChecks
         )
-        assertTrue(kotlinModule { enable(NewStrictNullChecks) }.strictNullChecks)
+        assertTrue(kotlinModule { enable(StrictNullChecks) }.strictNullChecks)
 
         assertThrows<IllegalArgumentException> {
             kotlinModule {
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ class KotlinModuleTest {
         assertFalse(module.nullToEmptyMap)
         assertFalse(module.nullIsSameAsDefault)
         assertTrue(module.singletonSupport)
-        assertFalse(module.strictNullChecks)
+        assertTrue(module.strictNullChecks)
         assertFalse(module.kotlinPropertyNameAsImplicitName)
         assertFalse(module.useJavaDurationConversion)
     }
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class KotlinModuleTest {
             enable(NullToEmptyMap)
             enable(NullIsSameAsDefault)
             enable(SingletonSupport)
-            enable(NewStrictNullChecks)
+            enable(StrictNullChecks)
             enable(KotlinPropertyNameAsImplicitName)
             enable(UseJavaDurationConversion)
         }.build()
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class KotlinModuleTest {
     @Test
     fun builder_EnableStrictNullChecks() {
         val module = KotlinModule.Builder().apply {
-            enable(NewStrictNullChecks)
+            enable(StrictNullChecks)
         }.build()
 
         assertTrue(module.strictNullChecks)
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class KotlinModuleTest {
             enable(NullToEmptyMap)
             enable(NullIsSameAsDefault)
             enable(SingletonSupport)
-            enable(NewStrictNullChecks)
+            enable(StrictNullChecks)
         }.build()
 
         val serialized = jdkSerialize(module)
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/GitHub976.kt b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/GitHub976.kt
index b79e8aeb..80d4bb14 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/GitHub976.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/GitHub976.kt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class GitHub976 {
     @Test
     fun newStrictNullChecksRegression() {
         val om = jacksonObjectMapper {
-            enable(KotlinFeature.NewStrictNullChecks)
+            enable(KotlinFeature.StrictNullChecks)
         }
         assertThrows<InvalidNullException> {
             om.readValue("""{"list": [""] }""".toByteArray(), PrimitiveList::class.java)
diff --git a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/Github27.kt b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/Github27.kt
index a42f7a12..cec6c70f 100644
--- a/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/Github27.kt
+++ b/src/test/kotlin/tools/jackson/module/kotlin/test/github/Github27.kt
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import kotlin.test.assertTrue
 import kotlin.test.fail
 
 class TestGithub27 {
-    val mapper = jacksonMapperBuilder { disable(KotlinFeature.NewStrictNullChecks) }
+    val mapper = jacksonMapperBuilder { disable(KotlinFeature.StrictNullChecks) }
         .disable(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT)
         .build()