diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/native/subsystems/platform_specific/linux/glibc.py b/src/python/pants/backend/native/subsystems/platform_specific/linux/glibc.py
index 92329ebbaaaa..c2523f091fd2 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/native/subsystems/platform_specific/linux/glibc.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/native/subsystems/platform_specific/linux/glibc.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 class GLibc(NativeTool):
   options_scope = 'glibc'
-  default_version = '2.27'
+  default_version = '2.23'
   archive_type = 'tgz'
 
   def lib_dir(self):