diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 72f46de2..fa9c84f1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -108,6 +108,9 @@
 * Writing a sixel on top of another sixel no longer erases the first
   sixel, but the two are instead blended
   (https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/562).
+* Running foot without a configuration file is no longer an error; it
+  has been demoted to a warning, and is no longer presented as a
+  notification in the terminal window, but only logged on stderr.
 
 
 ### Deprecated
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index f032c024..8bb01a3d 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2662,7 +2662,7 @@ config_load(struct config *conf, const char *conf_path,
     } else {
         conf_file = open_config();
         if (conf_file.fd < 0) {
-            LOG_AND_NOTIFY_WARN("no configuration found, using defaults");
+            LOG_WARN("no configuration found, using defaults");
             ret = !errors_are_fatal;
             goto out;
         }