diff --git a/discovery/consul/consul.go b/discovery/consul/consul.go
index af13efa550..de6e4ba6dc 100644
--- a/discovery/consul/consul.go
+++ b/discovery/consul/consul.go
@@ -82,12 +82,13 @@ var (
 	DefaultSDConfig = SDConfig{
 		TagSeparator: ",",
 		Scheme:       "http",
+		Server:       "localhost:8500",
 	}
 )
 
 // SDConfig is the configuration for Consul service discovery.
 type SDConfig struct {
-	Server       string             `yaml:"server"`
+	Server       string             `yaml:"server,omitempty"`
 	Token        config_util.Secret `yaml:"token,omitempty"`
 	Datacenter   string             `yaml:"datacenter,omitempty"`
 	TagSeparator string             `yaml:"tag_separator,omitempty"`
diff --git a/docs/configuration/configuration.md b/docs/configuration/configuration.md
index cd03f19d83..6258f238bb 100644
--- a/docs/configuration/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration/configuration.md
@@ -305,10 +305,10 @@ The following meta labels are available on targets during [relabeling](#relabel_
 ```yaml
 # The information to access the Consul API. It is to be defined
 # as the Consul documentation requires.
-server: <host>
+[ server: <host> | default = "localhost:8500" ]
 [ token: <secret> ]
 [ datacenter: <string> ]
-[ scheme: <string> | default = "http"]
+[ scheme: <string> | default = "http" ]
 [ username: <string> ]
 [ password: <secret> ]