diff --git a/builtin/providers/postgresql/provider.go b/builtin/providers/postgresql/provider.go
index 8a8da8c8f4..308c11f616 100644
--- a/builtin/providers/postgresql/provider.go
+++ b/builtin/providers/postgresql/provider.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func Provider() terraform.ResourceProvider {
 			"ssl_mode": &schema.Schema{
 				Type:        schema.TypeString,
 				Optional:    true,
-				Default:     "require",
+				Default:     "prefer",
 				Description: "Connection mode for postgresql server",
 			},
 		},
diff --git a/website/source/docs/providers/postgresql/index.html.markdown b/website/source/docs/providers/postgresql/index.html.markdown
index 0689e0ddc6..87d0ba87fa 100644
--- a/website/source/docs/providers/postgresql/index.html.markdown
+++ b/website/source/docs/providers/postgresql/index.html.markdown
@@ -59,7 +59,9 @@ resource "postgresql_database" "my_db2" {
 The following arguments are supported:
 
 * `host` - (Required) The address for the postgresql server connection.
-* `port` - (Optional) The port for the postgresql server connection. (Default 5432)
+* `port` - (Optional) The port for the postgresql server connection. The default is `5432`.
 * `username` - (Required) Username for the server connection.
 * `password` - (Optional) Password for the server connection.
-* `ssl_mode` - (Optional) Set connection mode for postgresql server (Default "require", more options [lib/pq documentations](https://godoc.org/github.com/lib/pq)).
\ No newline at end of file
+* `ssl_mode` - (Optional) Set the priority for an SSL connection to the server.
+  The default is `prefer`; the full set of options and their implications
+  can be seen [in the libpq SSL guide](http://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.4/static/libpq-ssl.html#LIBPQ-SSL-PROTECTION).