diff --git a/puppet/services/swift-proxy.yaml b/puppet/services/swift-proxy.yaml
index 9a304edbfb..c707efb143 100644
--- a/puppet/services/swift-proxy.yaml
+++ b/puppet/services/swift-proxy.yaml
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ parameters:
     type: string
   SwiftCeilometerPipelineEnabled:
     description: Set to False to disable the swift proxy ceilometer pipeline.
-    default: True
+    default: false
     type: boolean
   SwiftCeilometerIgnoreProjects:
-    default: ['services']
+    default: ['service']
     description: Comma-seperated list of project names to ignore.
     type: comma_delimited_list
   RabbitClientPort:
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ parameters:
 
 conditions:
 
-  ceilometer_pipeline_enabled: {equals : [{get_param: SwiftCeilometerPipelineEnabled}, True]}
+  ceilometer_pipeline_enabled: {equals : [{get_param: SwiftCeilometerPipelineEnabled}, true]}
   use_tls_proxy: {equals : [{get_param: EnableInternalTLS}, true]}
 
 resources:
@@ -118,14 +118,20 @@ outputs:
             swift::proxy::authtoken::project_name: 'service'
             swift::proxy::node_timeout: {get_param: SwiftProxyNodeTimeout}
             swift::proxy::workers: {get_param: SwiftWorkers}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::rabbit_user: {get_param: RabbitUserName}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::rabbit_password: {get_param: RabbitPassword}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::auth_uri: {get_param: [EndpointMap, KeystoneInternal, uri]}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::auth_url: {get_param: [EndpointMap, KeystoneInternal, uri_no_suffix]}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::password: {get_param: SwiftPassword}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::ignore_projects: {get_param: SwiftCeilometerIgnoreProjects}
-            swift::proxy::staticweb::url_base: {get_param: [EndpointMap, SwiftPublic, uri_no_suffix]}
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::nonblocking_notify: true
+          -
+            if:
+            - ceilometer_pipeline_enabled
+            -
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::rabbit_user: {get_param: RabbitUserName}
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::rabbit_password: {get_param: RabbitPassword}
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::auth_uri: {get_param: [EndpointMap, KeystoneInternal, uri]}
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::auth_url: {get_param: [EndpointMap, KeystoneInternal, uri_no_suffix]}
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::password: {get_param: SwiftPassword}
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::ignore_projects: {get_param: SwiftCeilometerIgnoreProjects}
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::nonblocking_notify: true
+              swift::proxy::ceilometer::rabbit_use_ssl: {get_param: RabbitClientUseSSL}
+            - {}
+          - swift::proxy::staticweb::url_base: {get_param: [EndpointMap, SwiftPublic, uri_no_suffix]}
             tripleo::profile::base::swift::proxy::rabbit_port: {get_param: RabbitClientPort}
             tripleo::profile::base::swift::proxy::ceilometer_messaging_use_ssl: {get_param: RabbitClientUseSSL}
             tripleo::profile::base::swift::proxy::ceilometer_enabled: {get_param: SwiftCeilometerPipelineEnabled}
@@ -168,7 +174,6 @@ outputs:
                     - ''
                   - 'proxy-logging'
                   - 'proxy-server'
-            swift::proxy::ceilometer::rabbit_use_ssl: {get_param: RabbitClientUseSSL}
             swift::proxy::account_autocreate: true
             # NOTE: bind IP is found in Heat replacing the network name with the
             # local node IP for the given network; replacement examples
diff --git a/releasenotes/notes/disable-ceilo-middleware-6853cb92e3e08161.yaml b/releasenotes/notes/disable-ceilo-middleware-6853cb92e3e08161.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28dac8b0ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/releasenotes/notes/disable-ceilo-middleware-6853cb92e3e08161.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+fixes:
+  - Disable ceilometer in the swift proxy middleware pipeline out of the box.
+    This generates a lot of events with gnocchi and swift backend and causes
+    heavy load. It should be easy to enable if needed.