diff --git a/modules/setting/config_provider.go b/modules/setting/config_provider.go
index 19f3b9008a..123591a176 100644
--- a/modules/setting/config_provider.go
+++ b/modules/setting/config_provider.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package setting
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	"forgejo.org/modules/log"
 	"forgejo.org/modules/util"
 
+	"github.com/dustin/go-humanize"
 	"gopkg.in/ini.v1" //nolint:depguard
 )
 
@@ -320,6 +322,16 @@ func mustMapSetting(rootCfg ConfigProvider, sectionName string, setting any) {
 	}
 }
 
+// mustBytes returns -1 on parse error, or value out of range 0 to math.MaxInt64
+func mustBytes(section ConfigSection, key string) int64 {
+	value := section.Key(key).String()
+	bytes, err := humanize.ParseBytes(value)
+	if err != nil || bytes > math.MaxInt64 {
+		return -1
+	}
+	return int64(bytes)
+}
+
 // DeprecatedWarnings contains the warning message for various deprecations, including: setting option, file/folder, etc
 var DeprecatedWarnings []string
 
diff --git a/modules/setting/config_provider_test.go b/modules/setting/config_provider_test.go
index 3b99911f38..3588784b81 100644
--- a/modules/setting/config_provider_test.go
+++ b/modules/setting/config_provider_test.go
@@ -155,3 +155,24 @@ func TestDisableSaving(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, "k1 = a\nk2 = y\nk3 = z\n", string(bs))
 }
+
+func TestMustBytes(t *testing.T) {
+	test := func(value string) int64 {
+		cfg, err := NewConfigProviderFromData("[test]")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		sec := cfg.Section("test")
+		sec.NewKey("VALUE", value)
+
+		return mustBytes(sec, "VALUE")
+	}
+
+	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, test(""))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, test("-1"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 0, test("0"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 1, test("1"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 10000, test("10000"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 1000000, test("1 mb"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 1048576, test("1mib"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 1782579, test("1.7mib"))
+	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, test("1 yib")) // too large
+}
diff --git a/modules/setting/packages.go b/modules/setting/packages.go
index 87e41fb5a0..ba4768c66b 100644
--- a/modules/setting/packages.go
+++ b/modules/setting/packages.go
@@ -5,12 +5,9 @@ package setting
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"math"
 	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-
-	"github.com/dustin/go-humanize"
 )
 
 // Package registry settings
@@ -110,17 +107,3 @@ func loadPackagesFrom(rootCfg ConfigProvider) (err error) {
 	Packages.LimitSizeAlt = mustBytes(sec, "LIMIT_SIZE_ALT")
 	return nil
 }
-
-func mustBytes(section ConfigSection, key string) int64 {
-	const noLimit = "-1"
-
-	value := section.Key(key).MustString(noLimit)
-	if value == noLimit {
-		return -1
-	}
-	bytes, err := humanize.ParseBytes(value)
-	if err != nil || bytes > math.MaxInt64 {
-		return -1
-	}
-	return int64(bytes)
-}
diff --git a/modules/setting/packages_test.go b/modules/setting/packages_test.go
index 85a4656da0..a2cfdc6e35 100644
--- a/modules/setting/packages_test.go
+++ b/modules/setting/packages_test.go
@@ -10,27 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
-func TestMustBytes(t *testing.T) {
-	test := func(value string) int64 {
-		cfg, err := NewConfigProviderFromData("[test]")
-		require.NoError(t, err)
-		sec := cfg.Section("test")
-		sec.NewKey("VALUE", value)
-
-		return mustBytes(sec, "VALUE")
-	}
-
-	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, test(""))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, test("-1"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, 0, test("0"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, 1, test("1"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, 10000, test("10000"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, 1000000, test("1 mb"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, 1048576, test("1mib"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, 1782579, test("1.7mib"))
-	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, test("1 yib")) // too large
-}
-
 func Test_getStorageInheritNameSectionTypeForPackages(t *testing.T) {
 	// packages storage inherits from storage if nothing configured
 	iniStr := `
diff --git a/modules/setting/quota.go b/modules/setting/quota.go
index 05e14baa9c..01b3f16bbd 100644
--- a/modules/setting/quota.go
+++ b/modules/setting/quota.go
@@ -23,4 +23,7 @@ var Quota = struct {
 
 func loadQuotaFrom(rootCfg ConfigProvider) {
 	mustMapSetting(rootCfg, "quota", &Quota)
+
+	sec := rootCfg.Section("quota.default")
+	Quota.Default.Total = mustBytes(sec, "TOTAL")
 }
diff --git a/modules/setting/quota_test.go b/modules/setting/quota_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..baec9ccb4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/setting/quota_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// Copyright 2025 The Forgejo Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package setting
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"forgejo.org/modules/test"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestConfigQuotaDefaultTotal(t *testing.T) {
+	iniStr := ``
+	cfg, err := NewConfigProviderFromData(iniStr)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	loadQuotaFrom(cfg)
+
+	assert.False(t, Quota.Enabled)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, -1, Quota.Default.Total)
+
+	testSets := []struct {
+		iniTotal    string
+		expectTotal int64
+	}{
+		{"0", 0},
+		{"5000", 5000},
+		{"12,345,678", 12_345_678},
+		{"2k", 2000},
+		{"2MiB", 2 * 1024 * 1024},
+		{"3G", 3_000_000_000},
+		{"3GiB", 3 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024},
+		{"9EB", 9_000_000_000_000_000_000},
+		{"42EB", -1},
+		{"-1", -1},
+		{"-42", -1},
+		{"-1MiB", -1},
+		{"hello", -1},
+		{"unlimited", -1},
+	}
+
+	for _, testSet := range testSets {
+		t.Run(testSet.iniTotal, func(t *testing.T) {
+			defer test.MockVariableValue(&Quota.Default.Total, -404)()
+
+			iniStr := fmt.Sprintf(`
+[quota]
+ENABLED = true
+[quota.default]
+TOTAL = %s`, testSet.iniTotal)
+
+			cfg, err := NewConfigProviderFromData(iniStr)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			loadQuotaFrom(cfg)
+
+			assert.True(t, Quota.Enabled)
+			assert.Equal(t, testSet.expectTotal, Quota.Default.Total)
+		})
+	}
+}