diff --git a/rls/src/main/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConverters.java b/rls/src/main/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConverters.java
index cd164f5e2a..21168bce3b 100644
--- a/rls/src/main/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConverters.java
+++ b/rls/src/main/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConverters.java
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ final class RlsProtoConverters {
         maxAge = MAX_AGE_NANOS;
       }
       if (staleAge == null) {
-        staleAge = MAX_AGE_NANOS;
+        staleAge = maxAge >= MINUTES.toNanos(2) ? maxAge - MINUTES.toNanos(1) : maxAge;
       }
       maxAge = Math.min(maxAge, MAX_AGE_NANOS);
       staleAge = Math.min(staleAge, maxAge);
diff --git a/rls/src/test/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConvertersTest.java b/rls/src/test/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConvertersTest.java
index 98b7101fd5..4cf7ac4fbb 100644
--- a/rls/src/test/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConvertersTest.java
+++ b/rls/src/test/java/io/grpc/rls/RlsProtoConvertersTest.java
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ public class RlsProtoConvertersTest {
             .lookupService("service1")
             .lookupServiceTimeoutInNanos(TimeUnit.SECONDS.toNanos(10))
             .maxAgeInNanos(TimeUnit.MINUTES.toNanos(5))
-            .staleAgeInNanos(TimeUnit.MINUTES.toNanos(5))
+            .staleAgeInNanos(TimeUnit.MINUTES.toNanos(4))
             .cacheSizeBytes(5 * 1024 * 1024)
             .defaultTarget("us_east_1.cloudbigtable.googleapis.com")
             .build();