diff --git a/docs/handbook/image-file-formats.rst b/docs/handbook/image-file-formats.rst
index eb10a51fa..ea40ef6d7 100644
--- a/docs/handbook/image-file-formats.rst
+++ b/docs/handbook/image-file-formats.rst
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ The :py:meth:`~PIL.Image.Image.save` method supports the following options:
     files compared to the slowest, but best, 100.
 
 **method**
-    Quality/speed trade-off (0=fast, 6=slower-better). Defaults to 0.
+    Quality/speed trade-off (0=fast, 6=slower-better). Defaults to 4.
 
 **icc_profile**
     The ICC Profile to include in the saved file. Only supported if
diff --git a/src/PIL/WebPImagePlugin.py b/src/PIL/WebPImagePlugin.py
index dfc8351ef..50b82feb0 100644
--- a/src/PIL/WebPImagePlugin.py
+++ b/src/PIL/WebPImagePlugin.py
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ def _save(im, fp, filename):
     if isinstance(exif, Image.Exif):
         exif = exif.tobytes()
     xmp = im.encoderinfo.get("xmp", "")
-    method = im.encoderinfo.get("method", 0)
+    method = im.encoderinfo.get("method", 4)
 
     if im.mode not in _VALID_WEBP_LEGACY_MODES:
         alpha = (