diff --git a/cli/compose/schema/schema.go b/cli/compose/schema/schema.go
index 3d26d1fbc..f8a1abaf6 100644
--- a/cli/compose/schema/schema.go
+++ b/cli/compose/schema/schema.go
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ func Version(config map[string]interface{}) string {
 
 func normalizeVersion(version string) string {
 	switch version {
+	case "":
+		return defaultVersion
 	case "3":
 		return "3.0"
 	default:
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@ var schemas embed.FS
 
 // Validate uses the jsonschema to validate the configuration
 func Validate(config map[string]interface{}, version string) error {
+	version = normalizeVersion(version)
 	schemaData, err := schemas.ReadFile("data/config_schema_v" + version + ".json")
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Errorf("unsupported Compose file version: %s", version)
diff --git a/cli/compose/schema/schema_test.go b/cli/compose/schema/schema_test.go
index 1c36294c0..d90e45f95 100644
--- a/cli/compose/schema/schema_test.go
+++ b/cli/compose/schema/schema_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ func TestValidate(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	assert.NilError(t, Validate(config, "3.0"))
+	assert.NilError(t, Validate(config, "3"))
+	assert.ErrorContains(t, Validate(config, ""), "unsupported Compose file version: 1.0")
+	assert.ErrorContains(t, Validate(config, "12345"), "unsupported Compose file version: 12345")
 }
 
 func TestValidateUndefinedTopLevelOption(t *testing.T) {
@@ -84,6 +87,7 @@ func TestValidateCredentialSpecs(t *testing.T) {
 		version     string
 		expectedErr string
 	}{
+		{version: "3", expectedErr: "credential_spec"},
 		{version: "3.0", expectedErr: "credential_spec"},
 		{version: "3.1", expectedErr: "credential_spec"},
 		{version: "3.2", expectedErr: "credential_spec"},