In http://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/core/4.0/hem/en-US/html_single/, I see the following description of shared-cache-mode. I think the default is described incorrectly. I'll create a jira for this but wanted to see if others agree with me. " shared-cache-mode By default, entities are elected for second-level cache if annotated with @Cacheable. You can however: ALL: force caching for all entities NONE: disable caching for all entities (useful to take second-level cache out of the equation) ENABLE_SELECTIVE (default): enable caching when explicitly marked DISABLE_SELECTIVE: enable caching unless explicitly marked as @Cacheable(false) (not recommended) See Hibernate Annotation's documentation for more details. " Shared-cache-mode looks correct to me in the Hibernate developer guide (see section 6.2.1. Configuring your cache providers in http://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/core/4.0/devguide/en-US/html_single/). Scott