diff --git a/internal/beater/beater.go b/internal/beater/beater.go
index 2bbd53a1ae2..f6c7f5e4d53 100644
--- a/internal/beater/beater.go
+++ b/internal/beater/beater.go
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ func (s *Runner) Run(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if s.config.Aggregation.ServiceDestinations.MaxGroups <= 0 {
 		s.config.Aggregation.ServiceDestinations.MaxGroups = linearScaledValue(5_000, memLimitGB, 5_000)
 		s.logger.Infof("Aggregation.ServiceDestinations.MaxGroups set to %d based on %0.1fgb of memory",
-			s.config.Aggregation.Transactions.MaxGroups, memLimitGB,
+			s.config.Aggregation.ServiceDestinations.MaxGroups, memLimitGB,
 		)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/beater/config/aggregation.go b/internal/beater/config/aggregation.go
index 3163d30ba1e..8f4f9c76b57 100644
--- a/internal/beater/config/aggregation.go
+++ b/internal/beater/config/aggregation.go
@@ -17,10 +17,6 @@
 
 package config
 
-const (
-	defaultServiceDestinationAggregationMaxGroups = 10000
-)
-
 // AggregationConfig holds configuration related to various metrics aggregations.
 type AggregationConfig struct {
 	MaxServices         int                                 `config:"max_services"` // if <= 0 then will be set based on memory limits
@@ -36,7 +32,7 @@ type TransactionAggregationConfig struct {
 
 // ServiceDestinationAggregationConfig holds configuration related to span metrics aggregation for service maps.
 type ServiceDestinationAggregationConfig struct {
-	MaxGroups int `config:"max_groups" validate:"min=1"`
+	MaxGroups int `config:"max_groups"` // if <= 0 then will be set based on memory limits
 }
 
 // ServiceTransactionAggregationConfig holds configuration related to service transaction metrics aggregation.
@@ -45,9 +41,5 @@ type ServiceTransactionAggregationConfig struct {
 }
 
 func defaultAggregationConfig() AggregationConfig {
-	return AggregationConfig{
-		ServiceDestinations: ServiceDestinationAggregationConfig{
-			MaxGroups: defaultServiceDestinationAggregationMaxGroups,
-		},
-	}
+	return AggregationConfig{}
 }
diff --git a/internal/beater/config/config_test.go b/internal/beater/config/config_test.go
index b43f696dea3..71b4fd03a05 100644
--- a/internal/beater/config/config_test.go
+++ b/internal/beater/config/config_test.go
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@ func TestUnpackConfig(t *testing.T) {
 						MaxGroups: 0, // Default value is set as per memory limit
 					},
 					ServiceDestinations: ServiceDestinationAggregationConfig{
-						MaxGroups: 10000,
+						MaxGroups: 0, // Default value is set as per memory limit
 					},
 					ServiceTransactions: ServiceTransactionAggregationConfig{
 						MaxGroups: 0, // Default value is set as per memory limit