diff --git a/src/v/config/configuration.cc b/src/v/config/configuration.cc
index a6b2c0274dbc..c386ffffdaf7 100644
--- a/src/v/config/configuration.cc
+++ b/src/v/config/configuration.cc
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ configuration::configuration()
       "group_topic_partitions",
       "Number of partitions in the internal group membership topic",
       {.needs_restart = needs_restart::no, .visibility = visibility::tunable},
-      1)
+      16)
   , default_topic_replication(
       *this,
       "default_topic_replications",
diff --git a/tests/rptest/tests/group_membership_test.py b/tests/rptest/tests/group_membership_test.py
index 389bc1cf3a6b..d57fce734e79 100644
--- a/tests/rptest/tests/group_membership_test.py
+++ b/tests/rptest/tests/group_membership_test.py
@@ -127,7 +127,8 @@ def __init__(self, ctx, *args, **kwargs):
 
         # Require internal_kafka topic to have an increased replication factor
         extra_rp_conf = dict(default_topic_replications=3,
-                             enable_leader_balancer=False)
+                             enable_leader_balancer=False,
+                             group_topic_partitions=1)
         super(GroupMetricsTest, self).__init__(test_context=ctx,
                                                num_brokers=3,
                                                extra_rp_conf=extra_rp_conf)
@@ -374,6 +375,9 @@ def select_next_leader():
                        timeout_sec=30,
                        backoff_sec=5)
 
+            self.logger.debug(
+                f"Waiting for metrics from the single node: {new_leader.account.hostname}"
+            )
             wait_until(lambda: metrics_from_single_node(new_leader),
                        timeout_sec=30,
                        backoff_sec=5)