diff --git a/datastream-server/src/main/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/EventProducer.java b/datastream-server/src/main/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/EventProducer.java
index a89b72850..a725ae2e1 100644
--- a/datastream-server/src/main/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/EventProducer.java
+++ b/datastream-server/src/main/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/EventProducer.java
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ public class EventProducer implements DatastreamEventProducer {
   private static final String NUM_EVENTS_OUTSIDE_ALT_SLA_LOG_ENABLED = "numEventsOutsideAltSlaLogEnabled";
   private static final String NUM_EVENTS_OUTSIDE_ALT_SLA_LOG_FREQUENCY_MS = "numEventsOutsideAltSlaFrequencyMs";
   private static final String NEW_STREAM_GRACE_PERIOD_MS = "newStreamGracePeriodMs";
-  private static final String DEFAULT_NEW_STREAM_GRACE_PERIOD_MS = "7200000"; // 2 hours
+  private static final String DEFAULT_NEW_STREAM_GRACE_PERIOD_MS = "0";
   private static final String EVENTS_PRODUCED_OUTSIDE_SLA = "eventsProducedOutsideSla";
   private static final String EVENTS_PRODUCED_OUTSIDE_ALTERNATE_SLA = "eventsProducedOutsideAlternateSla";
   private static final String DROPPED_SENT_FROM_SERIALIZATION_ERROR = "droppedSentFromSerializationError";
diff --git a/datastream-server/src/test/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/TestEventProducer.java b/datastream-server/src/test/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/TestEventProducer.java
index 0ff0cd4d8..d73b82e33 100644
--- a/datastream-server/src/test/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/TestEventProducer.java
+++ b/datastream-server/src/test/java/com/linkedin/datastream/server/TestEventProducer.java
@@ -286,7 +286,9 @@ public void testSlaGraceActiveForNewCdcStream() {
     datastream.getSource().setConnectionString("mysql:/myhost/testDatabase/myTable");
     datastream.getMetadata().put(DatastreamMetadataConstants.CREATION_MS,
         String.valueOf(System.currentTimeMillis()));
-    sendOneEventThroughProducer(datastream, new Properties());
+    Properties props = new Properties();
+    props.put("newStreamGracePeriodMs", "7200000"); // explicit 2h grace period
+    sendOneEventThroughProducer(datastream, props);
 
     DynamicMetricsManager metrics = DynamicMetricsManager.getInstance();
     Assert.assertNull(metrics.getMetric(SLA_WITHIN_AGG),
@@ -365,8 +367,10 @@ public void testLatencyHistogramRedirectedToSlaIneligibleDuringGracePeriod() {
     datastream.getMetadata().put(DatastreamMetadataConstants.CREATION_MS,
         String.valueOf(System.currentTimeMillis()));
 
+    Properties props = new Properties();
+    props.put("newStreamGracePeriodMs", "7200000"); // explicit 2h grace period
     String someTopicName = "graceLatencyTopic";
-    sendOneEventThroughProducer(datastream, new Properties(), someTopicName);
+    sendOneEventThroughProducer(datastream, props, someTopicName);
 
     DynamicMetricsManager metrics = DynamicMetricsManager.getInstance();
     Assert.assertNull(
@@ -455,8 +459,10 @@ public void testSlaGraceDedupedTaskAllStreamsNew() {
     newDsB.getSource().setConnectionString("mysql:/myhost/testDatabase/myTable");
     newDsB.getMetadata().put(DatastreamMetadataConstants.CREATION_MS, String.valueOf(now - 60_000L));
 
+    Properties props = new Properties();
+    props.put("newStreamGracePeriodMs", "7200000"); // explicit 2h grace period
     DatastreamTaskImpl task = new DatastreamTaskImpl(Arrays.asList(newDsA, newDsB));
-    sendOneEventThroughTask(task, new Properties(), "someTopicName");
+    sendOneEventThroughTask(task, props, "someTopicName");
 
     DynamicMetricsManager metrics = DynamicMetricsManager.getInstance();
     Assert.assertNull(metrics.getMetric(SLA_WITHIN_AGG),