diff --git a/changes/issue-2088-software-inventory-on-new-installs b/changes/issue-2088-software-inventory-on-new-installs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..afb9e35126
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/issue-2088-software-inventory-on-new-installs
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* Enable software inventory by default for new installations
diff --git a/server/fleet/app.go b/server/fleet/app.go
index 0fd35cea0d..7d23fc6752 100644
--- a/server/fleet/app.go
+++ b/server/fleet/app.go
@@ -182,15 +182,19 @@ type HostStatusWebhookSettings struct {
 
 func (c *AppConfig) ApplyDefaultsForNewInstalls() {
 	c.ServerSettings.EnableAnalytics = true
+
 	c.SMTPSettings.SMTPPort = 587
 	c.SMTPSettings.SMTPEnableStartTLS = true
 	c.SMTPSettings.SMTPAuthenticationType = AuthTypeNameUserNamePassword
 	c.SMTPSettings.SMTPAuthenticationMethod = AuthMethodNamePlain
 	c.SMTPSettings.SMTPVerifySSLCerts = true
 	c.SMTPSettings.SMTPEnableTLS = true
+
 	agentOptions := json.RawMessage(`{"config": {"options": {"logger_plugin": "tls", "pack_delimiter": "/", "logger_tls_period": 10, "distributed_plugin": "tls", "disable_distributed": false, "logger_tls_endpoint": "/api/v1/osquery/log", "distributed_interval": 10, "distributed_tls_max_attempts": 3}, "decorators": {"load": ["SELECT uuid AS host_uuid FROM system_info;", "SELECT hostname AS hostname FROM system_info;"]}}, "overrides": {}}`)
 	c.AgentOptions = &agentOptions
 
+	c.HostSettings.EnableSoftwareInventory = true
+
 	c.ApplyDefaults()
 }