diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/plugin-filters-cfg.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/plugin-filters-cfg.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a2a5b96d05f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/plugin-filters-cfg.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- PLUGIN_FILTERS_CFG - Ensure that the value is treated as type=path, and that we use the standard section of ``defaults`` instead of ``default`` (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/45994)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/config/base.yml b/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
index 9a0681d482e..65036931890 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
+++ b/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
@@ -1550,6 +1550,13 @@ PLUGIN_FILTERS_CFG:
   ini:
   - key: plugin_filters_cfg
     section: default
+    deprecated:
+      why: Specifying "plugin_filters_cfg" under the "default" section is deprecated
+      version: "2.12"
+      alternatives: the "defaults" section instead
+  - key: plugin_filters_cfg
+    section: defaults
+  type: path
 RETRY_FILES_ENABLED:
   name: Retry files
   default: True