diff --git a/src/plotman/_tests/configuration_test.py b/src/plotman/_tests/configuration_test.py
index 0f0e9d56..6ad2abb9 100644
--- a/src/plotman/_tests/configuration_test.py
+++ b/src/plotman/_tests/configuration_test.py
@@ -50,3 +50,18 @@ def test_get_validated_configs__missing(mocker, config_path):
         f"No 'plotman.yaml' file exists at expected location: '{nonexistent_config}'. To generate "
         f"default config file, run: 'plotman config generate'"
     )
+
+
+def test_loads_without_user_interface(mocker, config_path, tmp_path):
+    with open(config_path, "r") as file:
+        loaded_yaml = yaml.load(file, Loader=yaml.SafeLoader)
+
+    del loaded_yaml["user_interface"]
+
+    temporary_configuration_path = tmp_path.joinpath("config.yaml")
+    temporary_configuration_path.write_text(yaml.safe_dump(loaded_yaml))
+
+    mocker.patch("plotman.configuration.get_path", return_value=temporary_configuration_path)
+    reloaded_yaml = configuration.get_validated_configs()
+
+    assert reloaded_yaml.user_interface == configuration.UserInterface()
diff --git a/src/plotman/configuration.py b/src/plotman/configuration.py
index 44b12c43..9e92ea5e 100644
--- a/src/plotman/configuration.py
+++ b/src/plotman/configuration.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional
 
 import appdirs
@@ -82,11 +82,11 @@ class Plotting:
 
 @dataclass
 class UserInterface:
-    use_stty_size: bool
+    use_stty_size: bool = True
 
 @dataclass
 class PlotmanConfig:
-    user_interface: UserInterface
     directories: Directories
     scheduling: Scheduling
     plotting: Plotting
+    user_interface: UserInterface = field(default_factory=UserInterface)