diff --git a/src/book/mod.rs b/src/book/mod.rs
index 2993f3df..05d45d9c 100644
--- a/src/book/mod.rs
+++ b/src/book/mod.rs
@@ -299,8 +299,13 @@ impl MDBook {
 
     pub fn read_config(mut self) -> Result<Self> {
         let config_path = self.root.join("book.toml");
-        debug!("[*] Loading the config from {}", config_path.display());
-        self.config = Config::from_disk(&config_path)?;
+
+        if config_path.exists() {
+            debug!("[*] Loading the config from {}", config_path.display());
+            self.config = Config::from_disk(&config_path)?;
+        } else {
+            self.config = Config::default();
+        }
 
         Ok(self)
     }
diff --git a/tests/init.rs b/tests/init.rs
index e35edee6..32c0ce8d 100644
--- a/tests/init.rs
+++ b/tests/init.rs
@@ -51,3 +51,14 @@ fn run_mdbook_init_with_custom_book_and_src_locations() {
         assert!(target.exists(), "{} should have been created by `mdbook init`", file);
     }
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn book_toml_isnt_required() {
+    let temp = TempDir::new("mdbook").unwrap();
+    let mut md = MDBook::new(temp.path());
+    md.init().unwrap();
+
+    assert!(!temp.path().join("book.toml").exists());
+
+    md.read_config().unwrap().build().unwrap();
+}