diff --git a/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts b/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts
index 2d2be325eb..89fdd48117 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts
+++ b/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function parse (number: any) {
 // default and max pagination settings
 function getLimit (limit: any, paginate: any) {
   if (paginate && paginate.default) {
-    const lower = typeof limit === 'number' ? limit : paginate.default;
+    const lower = typeof limit === 'number' && !isNaN(limit) ? limit : paginate.default;
     const upper = typeof paginate.max === 'number' ? paginate.max : Number.MAX_VALUE;
 
     return Math.min(lower, upper);
diff --git a/packages/adapter-commons/test/filter-query.test.ts b/packages/adapter-commons/test/filter-query.test.ts
index 8f5995121c..58b2925bd8 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-commons/test/filter-query.test.ts
+++ b/packages/adapter-commons/test/filter-query.test.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ describe('@feathersjs/adapter-commons/filterQuery', () => {
         assert.strictEqual(filters.$limit, 10);
         assert.strictEqual(filtersNeg.$limit, 10);
       });
+
+      it('limits with default pagination when not a number', () => {
+        const { filters } = filterQuery({ $limit: 'something' }, { paginate: { default: 5, max: 10 } });
+
+        assert.strictEqual(filters.$limit, 5);
+      });
     });
   });