diff --git a/conda_smithy/templates/run_docker_build.sh.tmpl b/conda_smithy/templates/run_docker_build.sh.tmpl
index 1e3c2bd02..749117286 100644
--- a/conda_smithy/templates/run_docker_build.sh.tmpl
+++ b/conda_smithy/templates/run_docker_build.sh.tmpl
@@ -64,8 +64,8 @@ mkdir -p "$ARTIFACTS"
 DONE_CANARY="$ARTIFACTS/conda-forge-build-done-${CONFIG}"
 rm -f "$DONE_CANARY"
 
-# Allow people to specify extra default arguments to `docker run` (e.g. `--rm`)
-DOCKER_RUN_ARGS="${CONDA_FORGE_DOCKER_RUN_ARGS}"
+# Allow people to specify extra default arguments to `docker run` (e.g. `--memory-swappiness=0`)
+DOCKER_RUN_ARGS="${CONDA_FORGE_DOCKER_RUN_ARGS:---rm}"
 if [ -z "${CI}" ]; then
     DOCKER_RUN_ARGS="-it ${DOCKER_RUN_ARGS}"
 fi
diff --git a/news/make_docker_rm_default.rst b/news/make_docker_rm_default.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..02fffa51d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/make_docker_rm_default.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+**Added:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* If `CONDA_FORGE_DOCKER_RUN_ARGS` is not set, `--rm` is added to `docker run ...` in run_docker_build.sh
+
+**Deprecated:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Removed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Fixed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Security:**
+
+* <news item>