diff --git a/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php b/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
index 1b4d1ca86..8350ee53f 100644
--- a/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
+++ b/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/Configuration.php
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ public function getConfigTreeBuilder(): TreeBuilder
                 ->booleanNode('auto_refresh_proxies')
                     ->info('Whether to auto-refresh proxies by default (https://symfony.com/bundles/ZenstruckFoundryBundle/current/index.html#auto-refresh)')
                     ->defaultNull()
+                    ->setDeprecated('zenstruck/foundry', '1.37.0', 'Configuration "zenstruck_foundry.auto_refresh_proxies" is deprecated and will be automatically set to true in 2.0.')
                 ->end()
                 ->arrayNode('faker')
                     ->addDefaultsIfNotSet()
diff --git a/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtension.php b/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtension.php
index 1e491b552..cce589e5a 100644
--- a/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtension.php
+++ b/src/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtension.php
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ protected function loadInternal(array $mergedConfig, ContainerBuilder $container
         $this->configureDatabaseResetter($mergedConfig, $container);
         $this->configureMakeFactory($mergedConfig['make_factory'], $container, $loader);
 
-        if (true === $mergedConfig['auto_refresh_proxies']) {
+        if (true === ($mergedConfig['auto_refresh_proxies'] ?? true)) {
             $container->getDefinition('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration')->addMethodCall('enableDefaultProxyAutoRefresh');
         } elseif (false === $mergedConfig['auto_refresh_proxies']) {
             $container->getDefinition('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration')->addMethodCall('disableDefaultProxyAutoRefresh');
diff --git a/src/Configuration.php b/src/Configuration.php
index 8faf1f308..9ec1e20df 100644
--- a/src/Configuration.php
+++ b/src/Configuration.php
@@ -85,8 +85,6 @@ public function defaultProxyAutoRefresh(): bool
         }
 
         if (null === $this->defaultProxyAutoRefresh) {
-            trigger_deprecation('zenstruck\foundry', '1.9', 'Not explicitly configuring the default proxy auto-refresh is deprecated and will default to "true" in 2.0. Use "zenstruck_foundry.auto_refresh_proxies" in the bundle config or TestState::enableDefaultProxyAutoRefresh()/disableDefaultProxyAutoRefresh().');
-
             $this->defaultProxyAutoRefresh = false;
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/Fixtures/Kernel.php b/tests/Fixtures/Kernel.php
index ddaa8474f..f9b61586b 100644
--- a/tests/Fixtures/Kernel.php
+++ b/tests/Fixtures/Kernel.php
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ protected function configureContainer(ContainerBuilder $c, LoaderInterface $load
         }
 
         if (\getenv('USE_FOUNDRY_BUNDLE')) {
-            $foundryConfig = ['auto_refresh_proxies' => false];
+            $foundryConfig = [];
             if ($this->defaultMakeFactoryNamespace) {
                 $foundryConfig['make_factory'] = ['default_namespace' => $this->defaultMakeFactoryNamespace];
             }
diff --git a/tests/Functional/FactoryDoctrineCascadeTest.php b/tests/Functional/FactoryDoctrineCascadeTest.php
index 551290e45..337a19abd 100644
--- a/tests/Functional/FactoryDoctrineCascadeTest.php
+++ b/tests/Functional/FactoryDoctrineCascadeTest.php
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 use Zenstruck\Foundry\Tests\Fixtures\Entity\Cascade\Variant;
 
 use function Zenstruck\Foundry\Persistence\persistent_factory;
+use function Zenstruck\Foundry\Persistence\proxy_factory;
 
 /**
  * @author Kevin Bond <kevinbond@gmail.com>
diff --git a/tests/Functional/ProxyTest.php b/tests/Functional/ProxyTest.php
index 2e6d18139..0c62b2f32 100644
--- a/tests/Functional/ProxyTest.php
+++ b/tests/Functional/ProxyTest.php
@@ -136,6 +136,7 @@ public function can_force_set_and_save(): void
     public function can_force_set_multiple_fields(): void
     {
         $post = $this->postFactoryClass()::createOne(['title' => 'old title', 'body' => 'old body']);
+        $post->_disableAutoRefresh();
 
         $this->assertSame('old title', $post->getTitle());
         $this->assertSame('old body', $post->getBody());
@@ -248,6 +249,7 @@ public function without_auto_refresh_solves_the_auto_refresh_problem(): void
     public function without_auto_refresh_does_not_enable_auto_refresh_if_it_was_disabled_originally(): void
     {
         $post = $this->postFactoryClass()::createOne(['title' => 'old title', 'body' => 'old body']);
+        $post->_disableAutoRefresh();
 
         $this->assertSame('old title', $post->getTitle());
         $this->assertSame('old body', $post->getBody());
@@ -274,6 +276,7 @@ public function without_auto_refresh_does_not_enable_auto_refresh_if_it_was_disa
     public function without_auto_refresh_keeps_disabled_if_originally_disabled(): void
     {
         $post = $this->postFactoryClass()::createOne(['title' => 'old title', 'body' => 'old body']);
+        $post->_disableAutoRefresh();
 
         $this->assertSame('old title', $post->getTitle());
         $this->assertSame('old body', $post->getBody());
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtensionTest.php b/tests/Unit/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtensionTest.php
index cc6706f70..cf9601174 100644
--- a/tests/Unit/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtensionTest.php
+++ b/tests/Unit/Bundle/DependencyInjection/ZenstruckFoundryExtensionTest.php
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ public function default_config(): void
         $this->assertContainerBuilderHasServiceDefinitionWithMethodCall('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration', 'setManagerRegistry', ['.zenstruck_foundry.chain_manager_registry']);
         $this->assertContainerBuilderHasServiceDefinitionWithMethodCall('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration', 'setStoryManager', ['.zenstruck_foundry.story_manager']);
         $this->assertContainerBuilderHasServiceDefinitionWithMethodCall('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration', 'setModelFactoryManager', ['.zenstruck_foundry.model_factory_manager']);
-        $this->assertCount(5, $this->container->findDefinition('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration')->getMethodCalls());
+        $this->assertCount(6, $this->container->findDefinition('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration')->getMethodCalls());
+        $this->assertContainerBuilderHasServiceDefinitionWithMethodCall('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration', 'enableDefaultProxyAutoRefresh', []);
         $this->assertTrue($this->container->getDefinition('.zenstruck_foundry.configuration')->isPublic());
         $this->assertContainerBuilderHasService('.zenstruck_foundry.default_instantiator', Instantiator::class);
         $this->assertEmpty($this->container->getDefinition('.zenstruck_foundry.default_instantiator')->getMethodCalls());
@@ -220,6 +221,7 @@ public function cannot_configure_always_force_properties_if_using_custom_instant
 
     /**
      * @test
+     * @group legacy
      */
     public function can_enable_auto_refresh_proxies(): void
     {
@@ -232,6 +234,7 @@ public function can_enable_auto_refresh_proxies(): void
 
     /**
      * @test
+     * @group legacy
      */
     public function can_disable_auto_refresh_proxies(): void
     {