diff --git a/distribution/build.gradle b/distribution/build.gradle
index f3fe27168f70e..45500673f9353 100644
--- a/distribution/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/build.gradle
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ subprojects {
       'error.file': [
         'deb': "-XX:ErrorFile=/var/log/elasticsearch/hs_err_pid%p.log",
         'rpm': "-XX:ErrorFile=/var/log/elasticsearch/hs_err_pid%p.log",
-        'def': "#-XX:ErrorFile=/error/file/path"
+        'def': "-XX:ErrorFile=logs/hs_err_pid%p.log"
       ],
 
       'stopping.timeout': [
diff --git a/docs/reference/setup/important-settings/error-file.asciidoc b/docs/reference/setup/important-settings/error-file.asciidoc
index 37f1d2a0b14ed..d58a752ac28fa 100644
--- a/docs/reference/setup/important-settings/error-file.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/reference/setup/important-settings/error-file.asciidoc
@@ -1,16 +1,12 @@
 [[error-file-path]]
 === JVM fatal error logs
 
-The <<rpm,RPM>> and <<deb,Debian>> package distributions default to configuring
-the JVM to write fatal error logs to `/var/lib/elasticsearch`; these are logs
-produced by the JVM when it encounters a fatal error (e.g., a segmentation
-fault). If this path is not suitable for receiving logs, you should modify the
-entry `-XX:ErrorFile=/var/lib/elasticsearch/hs_err_pid%p.log` in
+By default, Elasticsearch configures the JVM to write fatal error logs
+to the default logging directory (this is `/var/log/elasticsearch` for
+the <<rpm,RPM>> and <<deb,Debian>> package distributions, and the `logs`
+directory under the root of the Elasticsearch installation for the
+<<zip-targz,tar and zip>> archive distributions). These are logs
+produced by the JVM when it encounters a fatal error (e.g., a
+segmentation fault). If this path is not suitable for receiving logs,
+you should modify the entry `-XX:ErrorFile=...` in
 <<jvm-options,`jvm.options`>> to an alternate path.
-
-Note that the archive distributions do not configure the error file path by
-default. Instead, the JVM will default to writing to the working directory for
-the Elasticsearch process. If you wish to configure an error file path, you
-should modify the entry `#-XX:ErrorFile=/error/file/path` in
-<<jvm-options,`jvm.options`>> to remove the comment marker `#` and to specify an
-actual path.