diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 088c06d65..82b48097a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 - Ensure that Location header in 201 response is URL-encoded - @league
 - Fix garbage collector CPU leak - @ruslantalpa et al.
 - Return deleted items when return=representation header is sent - @ruslantalpa
+- Use table default values for empty object inserts - @begriffs
 
 ## [0.3.1.1] - 2016-03-28
 
diff --git a/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs b/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs
index 8d784252f..21bd41fe8 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import qualified Data.HashMap.Strict     as HM
 import           Data.List               (find)
 import           Data.Monoid             ((<>))
 import           Data.Text               (Text, intercalate, unwords, replace, isInfixOf, toLower, split)
-import qualified Data.Text as T          (map, takeWhile)
+import qualified Data.Text as T          (map, takeWhile, null)
 import qualified Data.Text.Encoding as T
 import           Data.String.Conversions (cs)
 import           Control.Applicative     ((<|>))
@@ -336,13 +336,17 @@ requestToQuery schema (DbRead (Node (Select colSelects tbls conditions ord range
 requestToQuery schema (DbMutate (Insert mainTbl (PayloadJSON (UniformObjects rows)))) =
   let qi = QualifiedIdentifier schema mainTbl
       cols = map pgFmtIdent $ fromMaybe [] (HM.keys <$> (rows V.!? 0))
-      colsString = intercalate ", " cols in
-  unwords [
-    "INSERT INTO ", fromQi qi,
-    " (" <> colsString <> ")" <>
-    " SELECT " <> colsString <>
-    " FROM json_populate_recordset(null::" , fromQi qi, ", $1)"
-    ]
+      colsString = intercalate ", " cols
+      insInto = unwords [ "INSERT INTO" , fromQi qi,
+          if T.null colsString then "" else "(" <> colsString <> ")"
+        ]
+      vals = if T.null colsString
+                then "DEFAULT VALUES"
+                else unwords [
+                    "SELECT", colsString, "FROM json_populate_recordset(null::" , fromQi qi, ", $1)"
+                  ] in
+  insInto <> vals
+
 requestToQuery schema (DbMutate (Update mainTbl (PayloadJSON (UniformObjects rows)) conditions)) =
   case rows V.!? 0 of
     Just obj ->
diff --git a/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs b/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
index 3be0233d4..965c426c0 100644
--- a/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
+++ b/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
@@ -189,6 +189,14 @@ spec = do
           , matchHeaders = ["Location" <:> location]
           }
 
+    context "empty object" $
+      it "successfully populates table with all-default columns" $
+        post "/items" "{}" `shouldRespondWith` ResponseMatcher {
+            matchBody    = Just ""
+          , matchStatus  = 201
+          , matchHeaders = []
+          }
+
   describe "CSV insert" $ do
 
     context "disparate csv types" $
diff --git a/test/fixtures/data.sql b/test/fixtures/data.sql
index 4153b126b..59aa2c357 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/data.sql
+++ b/test/fixtures/data.sql
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ INSERT INTO items VALUES (15);
 -- Name: items_id_seq; Type: SEQUENCE SET; Schema: test; Owner: -
 --
 
-SELECT pg_catalog.setval('items_id_seq', 1, true);
+SELECT pg_catalog.setval('items_id_seq', 15, true);
 
 
 --