diff --git a/emper/Emper.hpp b/emper/Emper.hpp
index 3da73f715fe33ab0fbedcd97e225bd228094c5e4..4a1cb46dc35db6d2ef40cdfafd93f50e36d0b34a 100644
--- a/emper/Emper.hpp
+++ b/emper/Emper.hpp
@@ -162,10 +162,10 @@ const bool IO_NOTIFICATION =
 		;
 
 const bool IO_PUNT_WAITFD_READ =
-#ifdef EMPER_IO_PUNT_WAITFD_READ
-		true
-#else
+#ifdef EMPER_IO_SKIP_WAITFD_READ_PUNT
 		false
+#else
+		true
 #endif
 		;
 
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 97fc65d52f10c8d940fe035a4b3a6d2b2dfaf083..7f83826b6dc7465f8d36859c431da31e5c32c883 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ io_bool_options = [
 	{'option': 'notification',
 	 'dependencies': {'worker_sleep_strategy': 'waitfd'}},
 	{'option': 'synchronous'},
-	{'option': 'punt_waitfd_read',
+	{'option': 'skip_waitfd_read_punt',
 	 'dependencies': {'worker_sleep_strategy': 'waitfd'}},
 ]
 
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index d4c53d3e5bf7b2ae9eb1a38dc369400c6695a83e..feb8782ec9958f936dc0a15c9ed3cd3287e8834e 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ option(
   value: 'none',
 )
 option(
-  'io_punt_waitfd_read',
+  'io_skip_waitfd_read_punt',
   type: 'boolean',
-  description: 'Punt the sleep watfd read to the io_wq',
-  value: true,
+  description: 'Skip punting the sleep waitfd read to the io_wq',
+  value: false,
 )
 option(
   'wakeup_semaphore_implementation',