diff --git a/netbox/netbox/api/pagination.py b/netbox/netbox/api/pagination.py
index 1270dca24..1f4f88a0a 100644
--- a/netbox/netbox/api/pagination.py
+++ b/netbox/netbox/api/pagination.py
@@ -38,12 +38,14 @@ class OptionalLimitOffsetPagination(LimitOffsetPagination):
 
     def get_limit(self, request):
         if self.limit_query_param:
+            MAX_PAGE_SIZE = get_config().MAX_PAGE_SIZE
+            if self.limit_query_param not in request.query_params:
+                return min(self.default_limit, MAX_PAGE_SIZE)
             try:
                 limit = int(request.query_params.get(self.limit_query_param, 0))
                 if limit < 0:
                     raise ValueError()
                 # Enforce maximum page size, if defined
-                MAX_PAGE_SIZE = get_config().MAX_PAGE_SIZE
                 if MAX_PAGE_SIZE:
                     return min(self.default_limit, MAX_PAGE_SIZE) if limit == 0 else min(limit, MAX_PAGE_SIZE)
                 return limit
diff --git a/netbox/utilities/tests/test_api.py b/netbox/utilities/tests/test_api.py
index ba0c3c4f8..1a62d36bb 100644
--- a/netbox/utilities/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/netbox/utilities/tests/test_api.py
@@ -144,6 +144,18 @@ class APIPaginationTestCase(APITestCase):
         self.assertIsNone(response.data['previous'])
         self.assertEqual(len(response.data['results']), page_size)
 
+    @override_settings(MAX_PAGE_SIZE=30)
+    def test_default_page_size_with_small_max_page_size(self):
+        response = self.client.get(self.url, format='json', **self.header)
+        page_size = get_config().MAX_PAGE_SIZE
+        self.assertLess(page_size, 100, "Default page size not sufficient for data set")
+
+        self.assertHttpStatus(response, status.HTTP_200_OK)
+        self.assertEqual(response.data['count'], 100)
+        self.assertTrue(response.data['next'].endswith(f'?limit={page_size}&offset={page_size}'))
+        self.assertIsNone(response.data['previous'])
+        self.assertEqual(len(response.data['results']), page_size)
+
     def test_custom_page_size(self):
         response = self.client.get(f'{self.url}?limit=10', format='json', **self.header)