diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/config.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/config.go
index 604471954..36dca0fbc 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/config.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/config.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func defaultGoModDir() string {
 func DefaultMainModuleVersionConfig() MainModuleVersionConfig {
 	return MainModuleVersionConfig{
 		FromLDFlags:       true,
-		FromContents:      true,
+		FromContents:      false,
 		FromBuildSettings: true,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/parse_go_binary_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/parse_go_binary_test.go
index 36158507a..d1949d352 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/parse_go_binary_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/golang/parse_go_binary_test.go
@@ -855,6 +855,14 @@ func TestBuildGoPkgInfo(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		{
 			name: "parse main mod and replace devel with pattern from binary contents",
+			cfg: func() *CatalogerConfig {
+				c := DefaultCatalogerConfig()
+				// off by default
+				assert.False(t, c.MainModuleVersion.FromContents)
+				// override to true for this test
+				c.MainModuleVersion.FromContents = true
+				return &c
+			}(),
 			mod: &extendedBuildInfo{
 				BuildInfo: &debug.BuildInfo{
 					GoVersion: goCompiledVersion,