diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.cc b/src/libstore/globals.cc
index 11de7a931..58c6bbe06 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.cc
@@ -103,6 +103,15 @@ StringSet Settings::getDefaultSystemFeatures()
     return features;
 }
 
+bool Settings::isWSL1()
+{
+    struct utsname utsbuf;
+    uname(&utsbuf);
+    // WSL1 uses -Microsoft suffix
+    // WSL2 uses -microsoft-standard suffix
+    return hasSuffix(utsbuf.release, "-Microsoft");
+}
+
 const string nixVersion = PACKAGE_VERSION;
 
 template<> void BaseSetting<SandboxMode>::set(const std::string & str)
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.hh b/src/libstore/globals.hh
index 7c46cceb4..8bddf086a 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.hh
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ class Settings : public Config {
 
     StringSet getDefaultSystemFeatures();
 
+    bool isWSL1();
+
 public:
 
     Settings();
@@ -130,7 +132,7 @@ public:
     Setting<bool> fsyncMetadata{this, true, "fsync-metadata",
         "Whether SQLite should use fsync()."};
 
-    Setting<bool> useSQLiteWAL{this, true, "use-sqlite-wal",
+    Setting<bool> useSQLiteWAL{this, !isWSL1(), "use-sqlite-wal",
         "Whether SQLite should use WAL mode."};
 
     Setting<bool> syncBeforeRegistering{this, false, "sync-before-registering",