diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ba25d4502..f976e1e3f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
    + A `<host>:<admin_server_port>/ready` endpoint is available for checking a correct internal state(the database connection plus the schema cache). 200 OK = ready, 503 = not ready.
  - #1988, Add the current user to the request log on stdout - @DavidLindbom, @wolfgangwalther
  - #1991, Add the ability to run without `db-uri` using libpq's PG environment variables to connect. @wolfgangwalther
+ - #1769, Add the ability to run without `db-schemas`, defaulting to `db-schemas=public`. @wolfgangwalther
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/nix/tools/loadtest.nix b/nix/tools/loadtest.nix
index 4cb6a9708..8b7840c46 100644
--- a/nix/tools/loadtest.nix
+++ b/nix/tools/loadtest.nix
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ let
       ''
         # previously required settings to make this work with older branches
         export PGRST_DB_URI="postgresql://"
+        export PGRST_DB_SCHEMAS="test"
 
         export PGRST_DB_CONFIG="false"
         export PGRST_DB_POOL="1"
diff --git a/src/PostgREST/Config.hs b/src/PostgREST/Config.hs
index a9675da64..d89389f76 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/Config.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/Config.hs
@@ -220,9 +220,8 @@ parser optPath env dbSettings =
     <*> (fromMaybe True <$> optBool "db-prepared-statements")
     <*> (fmap toQi <$> optWithAlias (optString "db-root-spec")
                                     (optString "root-spec"))
-    <*> (fromList . splitOnCommas <$> reqWithAlias (optValue "db-schemas")
-                                                   (optValue "db-schema")
-                                                   "missing key: either db-schemas or db-schema must be set")
+    <*> (fromList . maybe ["public"] splitOnCommas <$> optWithAlias (optValue "db-schemas")
+                                                                    (optValue "db-schema"))
     <*> (fromMaybe True <$> optBool "db-config")
     <*> parseTxEnd "db-tx-end" snd
     <*> parseTxEnd "db-tx-end" fst
@@ -317,15 +316,6 @@ parser optPath env dbSettings =
         Nothing  -> pure [JSPKey "role"]
         Just rck -> either (fail . show) pure $ pRoleClaimKey rck
 
-    reqWithAlias :: C.Parser C.Config (Maybe a) -> C.Parser C.Config (Maybe a) -> [Char] -> C.Parser C.Config a
-    reqWithAlias orig alias err =
-      orig >>= \case
-        Just v  -> pure v
-        Nothing ->
-          alias >>= \case
-            Just v  -> pure v
-            Nothing -> fail err
-
     optWithAlias :: C.Parser C.Config (Maybe a) -> C.Parser C.Config (Maybe a) -> C.Parser C.Config (Maybe a)
     optWithAlias orig alias =
       orig >>= \case
diff --git a/test/io/configs/boolean-numeric.config b/test/io/configs/boolean-numeric.config
index 3761c6c3f..c8d9ea3d7 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/boolean-numeric.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/boolean-numeric.config
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-db-schemas = "required"
 db-anon-role = "required"
 
 db-channel-enabled = "1"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/boolean-string.config b/test/io/configs/boolean-string.config
index e911a09fe..dfa222e0c 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/boolean-string.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/boolean-string.config
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-db-schemas = "required"
 db-anon-role = "required"
 
 db-channel-enabled = "true"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/defaults.config b/test/io/configs/defaults.config
index fa52bb4c0..fa9a3e474 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/defaults.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/defaults.config
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-db-schemas = "required"
 db-anon-role = "required"
 # Not the default, but only works with PG* variables, which are not set
 db-config = false
diff --git a/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-numeric.config b/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-numeric.config
index 318484895..94d378e7b 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-numeric.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-numeric.config
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ db-pool-timeout = 10
 db-pre-request = ""
 db-prepared-statements = false
 db-root-spec = ""
-db-schemas = "required"
+db-schemas = "public"
 db-config = true
 db-tx-end = "commit"
 db-uri = "postgresql://"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-string.config b/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-string.config
index 318484895..94d378e7b 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-string.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/expected/boolean-string.config
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ db-pool-timeout = 10
 db-pre-request = ""
 db-prepared-statements = false
 db-root-spec = ""
-db-schemas = "required"
+db-schemas = "public"
 db-config = true
 db-tx-end = "commit"
 db-uri = "postgresql://"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/expected/defaults.config b/test/io/configs/expected/defaults.config
index dd69a051a..fa192c3d4 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/expected/defaults.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/expected/defaults.config
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ db-pool-timeout = 10
 db-pre-request = ""
 db-prepared-statements = true
 db-root-spec = ""
-db-schemas = "required"
+db-schemas = "public"
 db-config = false
 db-tx-end = "commit"
 db-uri = "postgresql://"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/expected/types.config b/test/io/configs/expected/types.config
index 8b0b89dd0..b1347acd4 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/expected/types.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/expected/types.config
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ db-pool-timeout = 10
 db-pre-request = ""
 db-prepared-statements = true
 db-root-spec = ""
-db-schemas = "required"
+db-schemas = "public"
 db-config = true
 db-tx-end = "commit"
 db-uri = "postgresql://"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/sigusr2-settings.config b/test/io/configs/sigusr2-settings.config
index 1baab06de..b3f842479 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/sigusr2-settings.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/sigusr2-settings.config
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# will be replaced in test
 db-schemas = "public"
 
 app.settings.name_var = "John"
diff --git a/test/io/configs/types.config b/test/io/configs/types.config
index a458e88f3..1719a51cb 100644
--- a/test/io/configs/types.config
+++ b/test/io/configs/types.config
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # tests how config options fall back with invalid types
 db-anon-role = "required"
-db-schemas = "required"
 
 # expects string
 app.settings.test = false
diff --git a/test/io/fixtures.yaml b/test/io/fixtures.yaml
index c78e3d583..8f0dfd489 100644
--- a/test/io/fixtures.yaml
+++ b/test/io/fixtures.yaml
@@ -27,11 +27,6 @@ cli:
   - name: missing db-anon-role
     expect: error
     env:
-      PGRST_DB_SCHEMAS: required
-  - name: missing db-schemas
-    expect: error
-    env:
-      PGRST_DB_ANON_ROLE: required
 # failures: wrong config values
   - name: invalid server-unix-socket-mode not octal
     expect: error
diff --git a/test/io/test_io.py b/test/io/test_io.py
index 182d32613..589e70a25 100644
--- a/test/io/test_io.py
+++ b/test/io/test_io.py
@@ -92,7 +92,6 @@ def defaultenv():
         "PGDATABASE": os.environ["PGDATABASE"],
         "PGHOST": os.environ["PGHOST"],
         "PGUSER": os.environ["PGUSER"],
-        "PGRST_DB_SCHEMAS": "public",
         "PGRST_DB_ANON_ROLE": os.environ["PGRST_DB_ANON_ROLE"],
         "PGRST_DB_CONFIG": "false",
         "PGRST_LOG_LEVEL": "info",
@@ -641,9 +640,7 @@ def test_db_schema_reload(tmp_path, defaultenv):
     configfile = tmp_path / "test.config"
     configfile.write_text(config)
 
-    env = {key: value for key, value in defaultenv.items() if key != "PGRST_DB_SCHEMAS"}
-
-    with run(configfile, env=env) as postgrest:
+    with run(configfile, env=defaultenv) as postgrest:
         response = postgrest.session.get("/rpc/get_guc_value?name=search_path")
         assert response.text == '"public, public"'