diff --git a/superset/assets/src/explore/controls.jsx b/superset/assets/src/explore/controls.jsx
index ab4020ff19964..3632e8dc79976 100644
--- a/superset/assets/src/explore/controls.jsx
+++ b/superset/assets/src/explore/controls.jsx
@@ -1307,7 +1307,7 @@ export const controls = {
     label: t('Rotation'),
     choices: formatSelectOptions(['random', 'flat', 'square']),
     renderTrigger: true,
-    default: 'square',
+    default: 'flat',
     description: t('Rotation to apply to words in the cloud'),
   },
 
diff --git a/superset/assets/src/visualizations/word_cloud.js b/superset/assets/src/visualizations/word_cloud.js
index 75d68e9c60cff..5ef73e79cc273 100644
--- a/superset/assets/src/visualizations/word_cloud.js
+++ b/superset/assets/src/visualizations/word_cloud.js
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ function wordCloud(element, props) {
 
   const chart = d3.select(element);
   const size = [width, height];
-  const rotationFn = ROTATION[rotation] || ROTATION.random;
+  const rotationFn = ROTATION[rotation] || ROTATION.flat;
 
   const scale = d3.scale.linear()
     .range(sizeRange)