diff --git a/pandas/io/json/_json.py b/pandas/io/json/_json.py
index d6c154962ad83..236523d9ef7f8 100644
--- a/pandas/io/json/_json.py
+++ b/pandas/io/json/_json.py
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ def read_json(
     typ: Literal["frame", "series"] = "frame",
     dtype: DtypeArg | None = None,
     convert_axes=None,
-    convert_dates: bool | list[str] = True,
+    convert_dates: bool | list[str] = False,
     keep_default_dates: bool = True,
     precise_float: bool = False,
     date_unit: str | None = None,