diff --git a/data/System/VarTOPICRECURSE.txt b/data/System/VarTOPICRECURSE.txt
index 2cd8498..d1f46f8 100644
--- a/data/System/VarTOPICRECURSE.txt
+++ b/data/System/VarTOPICRECURSE.txt
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
        =formatbranch="..."= %BR% \
        =formatleaf="..."=               | Custom format results: see [[FormattedSearch]] for usage &amp; examples; "branch" format is for nodes which have descendents; "leaf" format is for terminating nodes for which there are no others below. | =$indent* [<nop>[$web.<nop>$topic][$topic]]= |
      | =separator="..."= | Separator _between_ search hits. See [[#FormatTokens]] | =$n= |
-     | =nodelimit= | Maximum number of nodes to be displayed. 0 = no limit. | =999= |
+     | =nodelimit= | Maximum number of nodes to be displayed. 0 = no limit. | =50= |
      | =depthlimit= | Maximum depth to recurse to. 0 = no limit. | =0= |
      | =breadthlimit= %X% | Maximum number of nodes to be displayed _at a given depth_. 0 = no limit. | =0= |
 
diff --git a/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TopicRecursePlugin/Core.pm b/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TopicRecursePlugin/Core.pm
index 0818736..0f0f475 100644
--- a/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TopicRecursePlugin/Core.pm
+++ b/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TopicRecursePlugin/Core.pm
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ sub extractParams {
     $args{formatleaf}   ||= $args{format};
     $args{separator}    ||= '$n';
     $args{footer}       ||= '*Total: $ntopics*';
-    $args{nodelimit}    ||= '999';
+    $args{nodelimit}    ||= '50';
 
     return \%args;
 }