diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
index 97b4b57bf2..cdaac7efb6 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ a pure JSON library.
  (contributed by @pjfanning)
 #1257: Increase InternCache default max size from 100 to 200
 #1262: Add diagnostic method pooledCount() in RecyclerPool
+#1266: Change default recycler pool to `bewConcurrentDequePool()` in 2.18
 
 2.17.1 (not yet released)
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/core/util/JsonRecyclerPools.java b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/core/util/JsonRecyclerPools.java
index bf724294cc..fffb93f1d3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/core/util/JsonRecyclerPools.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/core/util/JsonRecyclerPools.java
@@ -19,16 +19,17 @@ public final class JsonRecyclerPools
 {
     /**
      * Method to call to get the default recycler pool instance:
-     * as of Jackson 2.17.x and earlier (except for 2.17.0) this is same as calling
-     * {@link #threadLocalPool()} -- 2.17.0 temporarily had this call
-     * {@link #newLockFreePool()} (but reverted due to problems reported).
-     * Will likely be changed in 2.18.0 to something else.
+     * as of Jackson 2.18.x and later (except for 2.17.0) this is same as calling
+     * {@link #newConcurrentDequePool()}: before this it was calling
+     * {@link #threadLocalPool()} (except for 2.17.1 that temporarily
+     * called {@link #newLockFreePool()}, changed back due to reported issues).
      *
      * @return the default {@link RecyclerPool} implementation to use
      *   if no specific implementation desired.
      */
     public static RecyclerPool<BufferRecycler> defaultPool() {
-        return threadLocalPool();
+        // since 2.18.0:
+        return newConcurrentDequePool();
     }
 
     /**