diff --git a/docs/hot-reload.md b/docs/hot-reload.md
index 628377e643..d1eff0b49d 100644
--- a/docs/hot-reload.md
+++ b/docs/hot-reload.md
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ php_server {
 
 By default, FrankenPHP will watch all files in the current working directory matching this glob pattern: `./**/*.{css,env,gif,htm,html,jpg,jpeg,js,mjs,php,png,svg,twig,webp,xml,yaml,yml}`
 
+When hot reload is enabled, `opcache.revalidate_freq` defaults to `0`, so OPcache checks on every request whether a script changed.
+Setting it in a `php.ini` file or through the `php_ini` directive takes precedence.
+
 It's possible to set the files to watch using the glob syntax explicitly:
 
 ```caddyfile
diff --git a/frankenphp.c b/frankenphp.c
index 12a30abc75..ea72e5ecca 100644
--- a/frankenphp.c
+++ b/frankenphp.c
@@ -1522,6 +1522,17 @@ static char *frankenphp_getenv(const char *name, size_t name_len) {
   return NULL;
 }
 
+/* php.ini files and php_ini directives override these defaults. */
+static void frankenphp_ini_defaults(HashTable *configuration_hash) {
+  if (go_is_hot_reload_enabled()) {
+    /* Otherwise, a page reloaded right after a change may run the old code. */
+    zval tmp;
+    ZVAL_NEW_STR(&tmp, zend_string_init("0", sizeof("0") - 1, 1));
+    zend_hash_str_update(configuration_hash, "opcache.revalidate_freq",
+                         sizeof("opcache.revalidate_freq") - 1, &tmp);
+  }
+}
+
 sapi_module_struct frankenphp_sapi_module = {
     "frankenphp", /* name */
     "FrankenPHP", /* pretty name */
@@ -1815,6 +1826,8 @@ static void *php_main(void *arg) {
     frankenphp_sapi_module.ini_entries = php_ini_overrides;
   }
 
+  frankenphp_sapi_module.ini_defaults = frankenphp_ini_defaults;
+
   frankenphp_init_interned_strings();
 
   /* take a snapshot of the environment for sandboxing */
diff --git a/frankenphp.go b/frankenphp.go
index fa645f9c1a..229eb6b2a0 100644
--- a/frankenphp.go
+++ b/frankenphp.go
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ var (
 	// atomic: read by in-flight requests while a reload may rewrite it
 	maxWaitTime          atomic.Int64
 	maxRequestsPerThread int
+
+	hotReloadEnabled bool
 )
 
 type ErrRejected struct {
@@ -427,6 +429,8 @@ func Init(options ...Option) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	hotReloadEnabled = opt.hasHotReload()
+
 	mainThread, err := initPHPThreads(opt.numThreads, opt.maxThreads, opt.phpIni)
 	if err != nil {
 		shutdown()
@@ -962,6 +966,7 @@ func resetGlobals() {
 	globalWorkersByPath = nil
 	servers = nil
 	watcherIsEnabled = false
+	hotReloadEnabled = false
 	maxIdleTime = defaultMaxIdleTime
 	maxRequestsPerThread = 0
 }
diff --git a/hotreload_test.go b/hotreload_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..92358b8645
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hotreload_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+//go:build !nomercure && !nowatcher
+
+package frankenphp_test
+
+import (
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/dunglas/frankenphp"
+	"github.com/dunglas/mercure"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestHotReloadOpcacheRevalidateFreq(t *testing.T) {
+	for name, tc := range map[string]struct {
+		hotReload bool
+		phpIni    map[string]string
+		expected  string
+	}{
+		"hot reload":                 {hotReload: true, expected: "0"},
+		"hot reload with php_ini":    {hotReload: true, phpIni: map[string]string{"opcache.revalidate_freq": "5"}, expected: "5"},
+		"without hot reload":         {expected: "2"},
+		"without hot reload php_ini": {phpIni: map[string]string{"opcache.revalidate_freq": "5"}, expected: "5"},
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			opts := &testOptions{nbParallelRequests: 1, phpIni: tc.phpIni}
+			if tc.hotReload {
+				h, err := mercure.NewHub(t.Context(), mercure.WithTransport(mercure.NewLocalTransport(mercure.NewSubscriberList(0))))
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+
+				opts.initOpts = []frankenphp.Option{frankenphp.WithHotReload("hot-reload", h, []string{"./testdata/**/*.none"})}
+			}
+
+			runTest(t, func(handler func(http.ResponseWriter, *http.Request), _ *httptest.Server, _ int) {
+				body, _ := testGet("http://example.com/ini.php?key=opcache.revalidate_freq", handler, t)
+				if strings.HasSuffix(body, ":") {
+					t.Skip("OPcache is not loaded")
+				}
+
+				assert.Equal(t, "opcache.revalidate_freq:"+tc.expected, body)
+			}, opts)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/phpmainthread.go b/phpmainthread.go
index 5e19c0fc75..23a544ced8 100644
--- a/phpmainthread.go
+++ b/phpmainthread.go
@@ -285,6 +285,11 @@ func go_frankenphp_shutdown_main_thread() {
 	mainThread.state.Set(state.Reserved)
 }
 
+//export go_is_hot_reload_enabled
+func go_is_hot_reload_enabled() C.bool {
+	return C.bool(hotReloadEnabled)
+}
+
 //export go_get_custom_php_ini
 func go_get_custom_php_ini(disableTimeouts C.bool) *C.char {
 	if mainThread.phpIni == nil {
diff --git a/watcher-skip.go b/watcher-skip.go
index b6413c58d2..9f1db3c949 100644
--- a/watcher-skip.go
+++ b/watcher-skip.go
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ import "errors"
 type hotReloadOpt struct {
 }
 
+func (*hotReloadOpt) hasHotReload() bool {
+	return false
+}
+
 var errWatcherNotEnabled = errors.New("watcher support is not enabled")
 
 // validateWatchers reports what initWatchers() would refuse, so Validate()
diff --git a/watcher.go b/watcher.go
index 6b78688074..63864b9ef6 100644
--- a/watcher.go
+++ b/watcher.go
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ func validateWatchers(*opt) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (o *hotReloadOpt) hasHotReload() bool {
+	return len(o.hotReload) != 0
+}
+
 func initWatchers(o *opt) error {
 	watchPatterns := make([]*watcher.PatternGroup, 0, len(o.hotReload))