diff --git a/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_interfaces/node_base.hpp b/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_interfaces/node_base.hpp
index c21514ff97..9816325bff 100644
--- a/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_interfaces/node_base.hpp
+++ b/rclcpp/include/rclcpp/node_interfaces/node_base.hpp
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class NodeBase : public NodeBaseInterface
     rclcpp::Context::SharedPtr context,
     const rcl_node_options_t & rcl_node_options,
     bool use_intra_process_default,
-    bool enable_topic_statistics_default);
+    bool enable_topic_statistics_default=false);
 
   RCLCPP_PUBLIC
   virtual