diff --git a/.changeset/quiet-bananas-obey.md b/.changeset/quiet-bananas-obey.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..42ed93312f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/quiet-bananas-obey.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@astrojs/image': patch
+---
+
+Bug: Updating the <Picture /> component to default to async image decoding
diff --git a/packages/integrations/image/components/Picture.astro b/packages/integrations/image/components/Picture.astro
index ed2cfd49e3..fb1f1e2bd2 100644
--- a/packages/integrations/image/components/Picture.astro
+++ b/packages/integrations/image/components/Picture.astro
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ export interface RemoteImageProps extends Omit<PictureAttributes, 'src' | 'width
 
 export type Props = LocalImageProps | RemoteImageProps;
 
-const { src, sizes, widths, aspectRatio, formats = ['avif', 'webp'], loading = 'lazy', decoding = 'eager', ...attrs } = Astro.props as Props;
+const { src, sizes, widths, aspectRatio, formats = ['avif', 'webp'], loading = 'lazy', decoding = 'async', ...attrs } = Astro.props as Props;
 
 const { image, sources } = await getPicture({ loader, src, widths, formats, aspectRatio });
 ---