diff --git a/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts b/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts
index d1db78206c..415ac54cbc 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts
+++ b/packages/adapter-commons/src/filter-query.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ function parse (number: any) {
 // Returns the pagination limit and will take into account the
 // default and max pagination settings
 function getLimit (limit: any, paginate: any) {
-  if (paginate && paginate.default) {
-    const lower = typeof limit === 'number' && !isNaN(limit) ? limit : paginate.default;
+  if (paginate && (paginate.default || paginate.max)) {
+    const base = paginate.default || 0;
+    const lower = typeof limit === 'number' && !isNaN(limit) ? limit : base;
     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 6695bcc3a0..4973ca4567 100644
--- a/packages/adapter-commons/test/filter-query.test.ts
+++ b/packages/adapter-commons/test/filter-query.test.ts
@@ -113,6 +113,18 @@ describe('@feathersjs/adapter-commons/filterQuery', () => {
 
         assert.strictEqual(filters.$limit, 5);
       });
+
+      it('limits to 0 when no paginate.default and not a number', () => {
+        const { filters } = filterQuery({ $limit: 'something' }, { paginate: { max: 10 } });
+
+        assert.strictEqual(filters.$limit, 0);
+      });
+
+      it('still uses paginate.max when there is no paginate.default (#2104)', () => {
+        const { filters } = filterQuery({ $limit: 100 }, { paginate: { max: 10 } });
+
+        assert.strictEqual(filters.$limit, 10);
+      });
     });
   });