diff --git a/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/main/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilder.java b/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/main/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilder.java
index 63bcdddc..90c56254 100644
--- a/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/main/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilder.java
+++ b/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/main/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilder.java
@@ -107,9 +107,15 @@ public class MVStoreModuleBuilder {
 
     /**
      * The amount of memory a MVStore page should contain at most, in bytes,
-     * before it is split. The default is 16 KB.
-     */
-    private int pageSplitSize = 16;
+     * before it is split. The default is 16 KB, which is also MVStore's own
+     * default for a persistent store.
+     * <p>
+     * MVStore reads this value in bytes. It used to default to {@code 16}, so
+     * every leaf page split as soon as it held more than one entry: a store
+     * carried roughly one entry per page, and every lookup descended a tree
+     * about twice as deep as it needed to be.
+     */
+    private int pageSplitSize = 16 * 1024;
 
     /**
      * The file store used by the MVStore.
diff --git a/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilderTest.java b/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilderTest.java
index ff388a2a..73b17a5b 100644
--- a/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilderTest.java
+++ b/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleBuilderTest.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public void testConstructor() {
         assertTrue(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.autoCommit());
         assertFalse(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.recoveryMode());
         assertFalse(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.readOnly());
-        assertEquals(Short.SIZE, actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.pageSplitSize());
+        assertEquals(16 * 1024, actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.pageSplitSize());
         assertNull(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.fileStore());
         assertEquals("Path", actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.filePath());
         assertTrue(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.eventListeners().isEmpty());
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public void testConstructor2() {
         MVStoreModuleBuilder actualMvStoreModuleBuilder = new MVStoreModuleBuilder();
         assertTrue(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.autoCommit());
         assertFalse(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.recoveryMode());
-        assertEquals(Short.SIZE, actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.pageSplitSize());
+        assertEquals(16 * 1024, actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.pageSplitSize());
         assertTrue(actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.eventListeners().isEmpty());
         assertEquals(1024, actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.autoCommitBufferSize());
         assertEquals(Short.SIZE, actualMvStoreModuleBuilder.cacheSize());
diff --git a/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleTest.java b/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleTest.java
index 13a55b03..5661cd27 100644
--- a/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleTest.java
+++ b/nitrite-mvstore-adapter/src/test/java/org/dizitart/no2/mvstore/MVStoreModuleTest.java
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public void testWithConfig() {
         MVStoreModuleBuilder actualWithConfigResult = MVStoreModule.withConfig();
         assertTrue(actualWithConfigResult.autoCommit());
         assertFalse(actualWithConfigResult.recoveryMode());
-        assertEquals(Short.SIZE, actualWithConfigResult.pageSplitSize());
+        assertEquals(16 * 1024, actualWithConfigResult.pageSplitSize());
         assertTrue(actualWithConfigResult.eventListeners().isEmpty());
         assertEquals(1024, actualWithConfigResult.autoCommitBufferSize());
         assertEquals(Short.SIZE, actualWithConfigResult.cacheSize());