diff --git a/lib/mu-index.c b/lib/mu-index.c
index edfef25b..9aefb5d4 100644
--- a/lib/mu-index.c
+++ b/lib/mu-index.c
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@
 #include "mu-util.h"
 
 #define	MU_LAST_USED_MAILDIR_KEY "last_used_maildir"
-#define MU_INDEX_MAX_FILE_SIZE (50*1000*1000) /* 50 Mb */
+#define MU_INDEX_MAX_FILE_SIZE (500*1000*1000) /* 500 Mb */
+/* apparently, people are getting really big mails, so let us index those (by
+ * default)*/
 
 struct _MuIndex {
 	MuStore		*_store;
diff --git a/man/mu-index.1 b/man/mu-index.1
index 3e11a37a..92a6bac5 100644
--- a/man/mu-index.1
+++ b/man/mu-index.1
@@ -105,12 +105,13 @@ size to (for example) 1000, which will reduce memory consumption, but also
 substantially reduce the indexing performance.
 
 .TP
-\fB\-\-max-msg-size\fR=\fI<max msg size>\fR
-set the maximum size (in bytes) for messages. The default maximum (currently
-at 50Mb) should be enough in most cases, but if you encounter warnings from
-\fBmu\fR about ignoring messsage because they are too big, you may want to
-increase this. Note that the reason for having a maximum size is that big
-messages require big memory allocations, which may lead to problems.
+\fB\-\-max-msg-size\fR=\fI<max msg size>\fR\
+set the maximum size (in bytes) for messages. The default maximum
+(currently at 500Mb) should be enough in most cases, but if you
+encounter warnings from \fBmu\fR about ignoring messsage because they
+are too big, you may want to increase this. Note that the reason for
+having a maximum size is that big messages require big memory
+allocations, which may lead to problems.
 
 .B NOTE:
 It is not recommended to mix maildirs and sub-maildirs within the hierarchy