diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/infinispan/cache/impl/CacheImpl.java b/core/src/main/java/org/infinispan/cache/impl/CacheImpl.java
index 2f70a68295c6..1684c9e7d8ee 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/infinispan/cache/impl/CacheImpl.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/infinispan/cache/impl/CacheImpl.java
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
 import org.infinispan.commons.util.Version;
 import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.Configuration;
 import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.Configurations;
+import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.ExpirationConfiguration;
 import org.infinispan.configuration.format.PropertyFormatter;
 import org.infinispan.configuration.global.GlobalConfiguration;
 import org.infinispan.container.DataContainer;
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ public class CacheImpl<K, V> implements AdvancedCache<K, V>, InternalCache<K, V>
    @Inject ComponentRef<AdvancedCache> encoderCache;
    @Inject GroupManager groupManager;
 
-   protected Metadata defaultMetadata;
+   protected volatile Metadata defaultMetadata;
    private final String name;
    private volatile boolean stopping = false;
    private boolean transactional;
@@ -196,11 +197,18 @@ public CacheImpl(String name) {
    public void preStart() {
       // We have to do this before start, since some components may start before the actual cache and they
       // have to have access to the default metadata on some operations
-      defaultMetadata = Configurations.newDefaultMetadata(config);
+      updateDefaultMetadata();
+      // Listen for changes to the defaults
+      config.expiration().attributes().attribute(ExpirationConfiguration.LIFESPAN).addListener((attribute, oldValue) -> updateDefaultMetadata());
+      config.expiration().attributes().attribute(ExpirationConfiguration.MAX_IDLE).addListener((attribute, oldValue) -> updateDefaultMetadata());
       transactional = config.transaction().transactionMode().isTransactional();
       batchingEnabled = config.invocationBatching().enabled();
    }
 
+   private void updateDefaultMetadata() {
+      defaultMetadata = Configurations.newDefaultMetadata(config);
+   }
+
    @Override
    public ComponentRegistry getComponentRegistry() {
       return componentRegistry;
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/api/MetadataAPIDefaultExpiryTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/api/MetadataAPIDefaultExpiryTest.java
index 3aea9163bec1..e9482935009c 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/api/MetadataAPIDefaultExpiryTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/api/MetadataAPIDefaultExpiryTest.java
@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
 
+import org.infinispan.commons.time.ControlledTimeService;
+import org.infinispan.commons.time.TimeService;
 import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.ConfigurationBuilder;
+import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.ExpirationConfiguration;
+import org.infinispan.container.entries.CacheEntry;
 import org.infinispan.manager.EmbeddedCacheManager;
 import org.infinispan.metadata.EmbeddedMetadata;
 import org.infinispan.test.SingleCacheManagerTest;
 import org.infinispan.test.TestingUtil;
 import org.infinispan.test.fwk.TestCacheManagerFactory;
-import org.infinispan.commons.time.ControlledTimeService;
-import org.infinispan.commons.time.TimeService;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
 @Test(groups = "functional", testName = "api.MetadataAPIDefaultExpiryTest")
@@ -80,6 +82,23 @@ public void testDefaultLifespanPutAsync() throws Exception {
       expectCachedThenExpired(2, "v2");
    }
 
+   public void updateExpiration() {
+      cache().put(1, "value");
+      CacheEntry<Object, Object> entry = cache().getAdvancedCache().getCacheEntry(1);
+      assertEquals(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT, entry.getLifespan());
+      assertEquals(-1, entry.getMaxIdle());
+      cache().getCacheConfiguration().expiration().attributes().attribute(ExpirationConfiguration.LIFESPAN).set(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT * 2L);
+      cache().put(2, "value");
+      entry = cache().getAdvancedCache().getCacheEntry(2);
+      assertEquals(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT * 2, entry.getLifespan());
+      assertEquals(-1, entry.getMaxIdle());
+      cache().getCacheConfiguration().expiration().attributes().attribute(ExpirationConfiguration.MAX_IDLE).set(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT * 3L);
+      cache().put(3, "value");
+      entry = cache().getAdvancedCache().getCacheEntry(3);
+      assertEquals(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT * 2, entry.getLifespan());
+      assertEquals(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT * 3, entry.getMaxIdle());
+   }
+
    private void expectCachedThenExpired(Integer key, String value) {
       // Check that it doesn't expire too early
       controlledTimeService.advance(EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT - 1);
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/expiry/ExpiryTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/expiry/ExpiryTest.java
index 0001af5dcdb6..3fd74443ff56 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/expiry/ExpiryTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/infinispan/expiry/ExpiryTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 import org.infinispan.Cache;
 import org.infinispan.commons.test.CommonsTestingUtil;
+import org.infinispan.commons.time.ControlledTimeService;
 import org.infinispan.commons.time.TimeService;
 import org.infinispan.commons.util.Util;
 import org.infinispan.configuration.cache.ConfigurationBuilder;
@@ -27,7 +28,6 @@
 import org.infinispan.test.AbstractInfinispanTest;
 import org.infinispan.test.TestingUtil;
 import org.infinispan.test.fwk.TestCacheManagerFactory;
-import org.infinispan.commons.time.ControlledTimeService;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterMethod;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeMethod;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ public class ExpiryTest extends AbstractInfinispanTest {
 
    public static final int EXPIRATION_TIMEOUT = 3000;
    public static final int IDLE_TIMEOUT = 3000;
-   public static final int EXPIRATION_CHECK_TIMEOUT = 2000;
    CacheContainer cm;
 
    protected ControlledTimeService timeService;
@@ -374,7 +373,6 @@ private void doValuesAfterExpiryInTransaction(Method m, CacheContainer cc) throw
       // Values come as a Collection, but comparison of HashMap#Values is done
       // by reference equality, so wrap the collection around to set to make
       // testing easier, given that we know that there are dup values.
-      Collection<String> values;
       Map<Integer, String> dataIn = new HashMap<>();
       dataIn.put(1, v(m, 1));
       dataIn.put(2, v(m, 2));