diff --git a/arraycontext/context.py b/arraycontext/context.py
index 9ffbe2a992ff4abb4d6f95ae142cad73e0d2a5ac..31ceb4083a574be3e3b2b006fae207e204135769 100644
--- a/arraycontext/context.py
+++ b/arraycontext/context.py
@@ -269,6 +269,7 @@ class ArrayContext(ABC):
             options=_DEFAULT_LOOPY_OPTIONS,
             lang_version=MOST_RECENT_LANGUAGE_VERSION,
             tags=tagged,
+            default_offset=lp.auto,
         )
 
     # This lives here rather than in .np because the interface does not