diff --git a/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.c b/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.c
index 510caeaef03a..766d9df9994b 100644
--- a/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.c
+++ b/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.c
@@ -2806,6 +2806,15 @@ static int dsi_panel_parse_bl_config(struct dsi_panel *panel)
 	else
 		DSI_ERR("bl-dsc-cmd-state command state unrecognized-%s\n",
 			state);
+	rc = utils->read_u32(utils->data, "qcom,mdss-dsi-bl-default-level", &val);
+	if (rc) {
+		panel->bl_config.brightness_default_level =
+			panel->bl_config.brightness_max_level;
+		pr_debug("set default brightness to max level\n");
+	} else {
+		panel->bl_config.brightness_default_level = val;
+	}
+
 	panel->bl_config.bl_2bytes_enable = utils->read_bool(utils->data,
 			"qcom,bklt-dcs-2bytes-enabled");
 
diff --git a/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.h b/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.h
index d922b3c9c768..b5a0c9178e9d 100644
--- a/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.h
+++ b/msm/dsi/dsi_panel.h
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ struct dsi_backlight_config {
 	u32 bl_min_level;
 	u32 bl_max_level;
 	u32 brightness_max_level;
+	u32 brightness_default_level;
 	u32 bl_level;
 	u32 bl_scale;
 	u32 bl_scale_sv;
diff --git a/msm/sde/sde_connector.c b/msm/sde/sde_connector.c
index b64ea3d346ac..bc40cc07172e 100644
--- a/msm/sde/sde_connector.c
+++ b/msm/sde/sde_connector.c
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ static int sde_backlight_setup(struct sde_connector *c_conn,
 	props.type = BACKLIGHT_RAW;
 	props.power = FB_BLANK_UNBLANK;
 	props.max_brightness = bl_config->brightness_max_level;
-	props.brightness = bl_config->brightness_max_level;
+	props.brightness = bl_config->brightness_default_level;
 	snprintf(bl_node_name, BL_NODE_NAME_SIZE, "panel%u-backlight",
 							display_count);
 	c_conn->bl_device = backlight_device_register(bl_node_name, dev->dev,