diff --git a/modules/node/node.install b/modules/node/node.install
index a1f77bb..c54ebfb 100644
--- a/modules/node/node.install
+++ b/modules/node/node.install
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@ function node_schema() {
         'unsigned' => TRUE,
         'not null' => TRUE,
       ),
+      // Defaults to NULL in order to avoid a brief period of potential
+      // deadlocks on the index.
       'vid' => array(
         'description' => 'The current {node_revision}.vid version identifier.',
         'type' => 'int',
         'unsigned' => TRUE,
-        'not null' => TRUE,
-        'default' => 0,
+        'not null' => FALSE,
+        'default' => NULL,
       ),
       'type' => array(
         'description' => 'The {node_type}.type of this node.',
@@ -900,5 +902,18 @@ function node_update_7012() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Change {node}.vid default value from 0 to NULL to avoid deadlock issues on MySQL.
+ */
+function node_update_7013() {
+  db_change_field('node', 'vid', 'vid', array(
+    'description' => 'The current {node_revision}.vid version identifier.',
+    'type' => 'int',
+    'unsigned' => TRUE,
+    'not null' => FALSE,
+    'default' => NULL,
+  ));
+}
+
+/**
  * @} End of "addtogroup updates-6.x-to-7.x"
  */