diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 66fff516db8..52c08bd416d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ release.
   ([#3872](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/3872))
 - Add synchronous gauge entry to sum monotonic table.
   ([#3977](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/3977))
+- Change the exemplar behavior to be on by default.
+  ([#3994](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/3994))
 
 ### Logs
 
diff --git a/specification/metrics/sdk.md b/specification/metrics/sdk.md
index d43dbd06bf6..1b46a38e2e0 100644
--- a/specification/metrics/sdk.md
+++ b/specification/metrics/sdk.md
@@ -1005,7 +1005,7 @@ While the metric data point for the counter would carry the attributes `X` and
 A Metric SDK MUST provide a mechanism to sample `Exemplar`s from measurements
 via the `ExemplarFilter` and `ExemplarReservoir` hooks.
 
-`Exemplar` sampling SHOULD be turned off by default. If `Exemplar` sampling is
+`Exemplar` sampling SHOULD be turned on by default. If `Exemplar` sampling is
 off, the SDK MUST NOT have overhead related to exemplar sampling.
 
 A Metric SDK MUST allow exemplar sampling to leverage the configuration of