diff --git a/homeassistant/components/mastodon/config_flow.py b/homeassistant/components/mastodon/config_flow.py
index 5c9419cd12d..5e1af5fae92 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/mastodon/config_flow.py
+++ b/homeassistant/components/mastodon/config_flow.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ STEP_USER_DATA_SCHEMA = vol.Schema(
     {
         vol.Required(
             CONF_BASE_URL,
-            default=DEFAULT_URL,
         ): TextSelector(TextSelectorConfig(type=TextSelectorType.URL)),
         vol.Required(
             CONF_CLIENT_ID,
diff --git a/homeassistant/components/mastodon/strings.json b/homeassistant/components/mastodon/strings.json
index 906b67dd481..fd4dd890b37 100644
--- a/homeassistant/components/mastodon/strings.json
+++ b/homeassistant/components/mastodon/strings.json
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
           "access_token": "[%key:common::config_flow::data::access_token%]"
         },
         "data_description": {
-          "base_url": "The URL of your Mastodon instance."
+          "base_url": "The URL of your Mastodon instance e.g. https://mastodon.social."
         }
       }
     },