diff --git a/src/utilities/__tests__/buildASTSchema-test.ts b/src/utilities/__tests__/buildASTSchema-test.ts
index 21de5434c2..3ea90c9b35 100644
--- a/src/utilities/__tests__/buildASTSchema-test.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/__tests__/buildASTSchema-test.ts
@@ -509,6 +509,26 @@ describe('Schema Builder', () => {
     expect(cycleSDL(sdl)).to.equal(sdl);
   });
 
+  it('builds recursive input object field defaults', () => {
+    const sdl = dedent`
+      type Query {
+        depth(person: PersonInput): Int
+      }
+
+      input PersonInput {
+        parent: PersonInput = {parent: {parent: {parent: null}}}
+      }
+    `;
+
+    const schema = buildSchema(sdl);
+    const personInput = assertInputObjectType(schema.getType('PersonInput'));
+
+    expect(personInput.getFields().parent.defaultValue).to.deep.equal({
+      parent: { parent: { parent: null } },
+    });
+    expect(printSchema(schema)).to.equal(sdl);
+  });
+
   it('Simple argument field with default', () => {
     const sdl = dedent`
       type Query {
diff --git a/src/utilities/__tests__/extendSchema-test.ts b/src/utilities/__tests__/extendSchema-test.ts
index 7891a47793..fc55883727 100644
--- a/src/utilities/__tests__/extendSchema-test.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/__tests__/extendSchema-test.ts
@@ -271,6 +271,38 @@ describe('extendSchema', () => {
     `);
   });
 
+  it('extends inputs with recursive field defaults', () => {
+    const schema = buildSchema(`
+      type Query {
+        someInput(arg: PersonInput): String
+      }
+
+      input PersonInput {
+        parent: PersonInput
+      }
+    `);
+    const extensionSDL = dedent`
+      extend input PersonInput {
+        ancestor: PersonInput = {parent: { parent: { parent: null } } }
+      }
+    `;
+    const extendedSchema = extendSchema(schema, parse(extensionSDL));
+    const personInput = assertInputObjectType(
+      extendedSchema.getType('PersonInput'),
+    );
+
+    expect(personInput.getFields().ancestor.defaultValue).to.deep.equal({
+      parent: { parent: { parent: null } },
+    });
+    expect(validateSchema(extendedSchema)).to.deep.equal([]);
+    expectSchemaChanges(schema, extendedSchema).to.equal(dedent`
+      input PersonInput {
+        parent: PersonInput
+        ancestor: PersonInput = {parent: {parent: {parent: null}}}
+      }
+    `);
+  });
+
   it('extends scalars by adding new directives', () => {
     const schema = buildSchema(`
       type Query {
diff --git a/src/utilities/extendSchema.ts b/src/utilities/extendSchema.ts
index 9dc9fc77ee..86cd345fd2 100644
--- a/src/utilities/extendSchema.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/extendSchema.ts
@@ -298,15 +298,27 @@ export function extendSchemaImpl(
     const config = type.toConfig();
     const extensions = typeExtensionsMap[config.name] ?? [];
 
+    let fields: GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap | undefined;
+
     return new GraphQLInputObjectType({
       ...config,
-      fields: () => ({
-        ...mapValue(config.fields, (field) => ({
-          ...field,
-          type: replaceType(field.type),
-        })),
-        ...buildInputFieldMap(extensions),
-      }),
+      fields: () => {
+        if (fields === undefined) {
+          fields = Object.create(null) as GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap;
+          Object.assign(
+            fields,
+            mapValue(config.fields, (field) => ({
+              ...field,
+              type: replaceType(field.type),
+            })),
+          );
+          extendInputFieldMap(fields, extensions);
+          // Default values must be applied _after_ all fields are known to
+          // prevent issues with recursion.
+          applyInputFieldDefaultValues(fields, extensions);
+        }
+        return fields;
+      },
       extensionASTNodes: config.extensionASTNodes.concat(extensions),
     });
   }
@@ -545,12 +557,12 @@ export function extendSchemaImpl(
     return argConfigMap;
   }
 
-  function buildInputFieldMap(
+  function extendInputFieldMap(
+    inputFieldMap: GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap,
     nodes: ReadonlyArray<
       InputObjectTypeDefinitionNode | InputObjectTypeExtensionNode
     >,
-  ): GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap {
-    const inputFieldMap = Object.create(null);
+  ): void {
     for (const node of nodes) {
       // FIXME: https://github.com/graphql/graphql-js/issues/2203
       const fieldsNodes = /* c8 ignore next */ node.fields ?? [];
@@ -564,13 +576,34 @@ export function extendSchemaImpl(
         inputFieldMap[field.name.value] = {
           type,
           description: field.description?.value,
-          defaultValue: valueFromAST(field.defaultValue, type),
+          // `defaultValue` will be populated later by applyInputFieldDefaultValues
+          defaultValue: undefined,
           deprecationReason: getDeprecationReason(field),
           astNode: field,
         };
       }
     }
-    return inputFieldMap;
+  }
+
+  function applyInputFieldDefaultValues(
+    inputFieldMap: GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap,
+    nodes: ReadonlyArray<
+      InputObjectTypeDefinitionNode | InputObjectTypeExtensionNode
+    >,
+  ): void {
+    for (const node of nodes) {
+      // FIXME: https://github.com/graphql/graphql-js/issues/2203
+      const fieldsNodes = /* c8 ignore next */ node.fields ?? [];
+
+      for (const field of fieldsNodes) {
+        const type = inputFieldMap[field.name.value].type;
+
+        inputFieldMap[field.name.value].defaultValue = valueFromAST(
+          field.defaultValue,
+          type,
+        );
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   function buildEnumValueMap(
@@ -686,10 +719,20 @@ export function extendSchemaImpl(
       case Kind.INPUT_OBJECT_TYPE_DEFINITION: {
         const allNodes = [astNode, ...extensionASTNodes];
 
+        let fields: GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap | undefined;
         return new GraphQLInputObjectType({
           name,
           description: astNode.description?.value,
-          fields: () => buildInputFieldMap(allNodes),
+          fields: () => {
+            if (fields === undefined) {
+              fields = Object.create(null) as GraphQLInputFieldConfigMap;
+              extendInputFieldMap(fields, allNodes);
+              // Default values must be applied _after_ all fields are known to
+              // prevent issues with recursion.
+              applyInputFieldDefaultValues(fields, allNodes);
+            }
+            return fields;
+          },
           astNode,
           extensionASTNodes,
           isOneOf: isOneOf(astNode),