diff --git a/roles/mariadb/defaults/main.yml b/roles/mariadb/defaults/main.yml
index f78bf02..15df54e 100644
--- a/roles/mariadb/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/mariadb/defaults/main.yml
@@ -23,4 +23,8 @@ mariadb_login_unix_socket: /var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock
 # default is 100 but the max I've seen used is 5, so let's reduce it
 max_connections: 33
 
+# disable the query cache by default
+query_cache_size: 0
+query_cache_type: 0
+
 # vim: set ts=2 sw=2:
diff --git a/roles/mariadb/templates/my.cnf.j2 b/roles/mariadb/templates/my.cnf.j2
index 40aa732..719bcfd 100644
--- a/roles/mariadb/templates/my.cnf.j2
+++ b/roles/mariadb/templates/my.cnf.j2
@@ -75,11 +75,9 @@ read_rnd_buffer_size	= 1M
 #
 # * Query Cache Configuration
 #
-# Cache only tiny result sets, so we can fit more in the query cache.
 query_cache_limit		= 128K
-query_cache_size		= 64M
-# for more write intensive setups, set to DEMAND or OFF
-#query_cache_type		= DEMAND
+query_cache_size		= {{ query_cache_size }}
+query_cache_type		= {{ query_cache_type }}
 #
 # * Logging and Replication
 #