diff --git a/man/emerge.1 b/man/emerge.1
index 220ef3d..61547f8 100644
--- a/man/emerge.1
+++ b/man/emerge.1
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@
 .BR \-\-backtrack=COUNT
 Specifies an integer number of times to backtrack if
 dependency calculation fails due to a conflict or an
-unsatisfied dependency (default: \'5\').
+unsatisfied dependency (default: \'10\').
 .TP
 .BR "\-\-binpkg\-respect\-use < y | n >"
 Tells emerge to ignore binary packages if their use flags
diff --git a/pym/_emerge/depgraph.py b/pym/_emerge/depgraph.py
index 51ddeb5..35512fc 100644
--- a/pym/_emerge/depgraph.py
+++ b/pym/_emerge/depgraph.py
@@ -5466,7 +5466,7 @@
 def _backtrack_depgraph(settings, trees, myopts, myparams, 
 	myaction, myfiles, spinner):
 
-	backtrack_max = myopts.get('--backtrack', 5)
+	backtrack_max = myopts.get('--backtrack', 10)
 	backtrack_parameters = {}
 	needed_unstable_keywords = None
 	allow_backtracking = backtrack_max > 0
diff --git a/pym/_emerge/help.py b/pym/_emerge/help.py
index 4533cfb..97562ab 100644
--- a/pym/_emerge/help.py
+++ b/pym/_emerge/help.py
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@
 		print("       " + green("--backtrack") + " " + turquoise("COUNT"))
 		desc = "Specifies an integer number of times to backtrack if " + \
 			"dependency calculation fails due to a conflict or an " + \
-			"unsatisfied dependency (default: '5')."
+			"unsatisfied dependency (default: '10')."
 		for line in wrap(desc, desc_width):
 			print(desc_indent + line)
 		print()