diff --git a/kong/dao/cassandra/apis.lua b/kong/dao/cassandra/apis.lua
index 36ef4d5ef757..d0ffb21260d3 100644
--- a/kong/dao/cassandra/apis.lua
+++ b/kong/dao/cassandra/apis.lua
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ local PluginsConfigurations = require "kong.dao.cassandra.plugins_configurations
 
 local SCHEMA = {
   id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID },
-  name = { type = "string", required = true, unique = true, queryable = true },
+  name = { type = "string", unique = true, queryable = true, default = function(api_t) return api_t.public_dns end },
   public_dns = { type = "string", required = true, unique = true, queryable = true,
                  regex = "(([a-zA-Z0-9]|[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9\\-]*[a-zA-Z0-9])\\.)*([A-Za-z0-9]|[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9\\-]*[A-Za-z0-9])" },
   target_url = { type = "string", required = true },
diff --git a/kong/dao/schemas.lua b/kong/dao/schemas.lua
index 13eadd917b8a..4c7b8f199173 100644
--- a/kong/dao/schemas.lua
+++ b/kong/dao/schemas.lua
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ function _M.validate(t, schema, is_update)
     -- Set default value for the field if given
     if t[column] == nil and v.default ~= nil then
       if type(v.default) == "function" then
-        t[column] = v.default()
+        t[column] = v.default(t)
       else
         t[column] = v.default
       end
diff --git a/spec/integration/admin_api/admin_api_spec.lua b/spec/integration/admin_api/admin_api_spec.lua
index 0a98d97058ee..a933eb6fa2fe 100644
--- a/spec/integration/admin_api/admin_api_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/integration/admin_api/admin_api_spec.lua
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ local ENDPOINTS = {
     update_fields = {
       public_dns = "newapi.mockbin.com"
     },
-    error_message = '{"public_dns":"public_dns is required","name":"name is required","target_url":"target_url is required"}\n'
+    error_message = '{"public_dns":"public_dns is required","target_url":"target_url is required"}\n'
   },
   {
     collection = "consumers",
diff --git a/spec/unit/dao/cassandra_spec.lua b/spec/unit/dao/cassandra_spec.lua
index 100de63d709d..261783df930c 100644
--- a/spec/unit/dao/cassandra_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/dao/cassandra_spec.lua
@@ -151,6 +151,16 @@ describe("Cassandra DAO", function()
           assert.truthy(api.created_at)
         end)
 
+        it("should use the public_dns as the name if none is specified", function()
+          local api, err = dao_factory.apis:insert {
+            public_dns = "test.com",
+            target_url = "http://mockbin.com"
+          }
+          assert.falsy(err)
+          assert.truthy(api.name)
+          assert.are.same("test.com", api.name)
+        end)
+
         it("should not insert an invalid api", function()
           -- Nil
           local api, err = dao_factory.apis:insert()
diff --git a/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua b/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua
index 844c88ba73e2..52f130c3d56c 100644
--- a/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ local schemas = require "kong.dao.schemas"
 local constants = require "kong.constants"
 local validate = schemas.validate
 
-describe("Validation #schema", function()
+describe("Validation", function()
 
   it("should return the right alias", function()
     assert.are.same("number", schemas.get_type("number"))
@@ -23,7 +23,10 @@ describe("Validation #schema", function()
       date = { default = 123456, immutable = true },
       allowed = { enum = { "hello", "world" }},
       boolean_val = { type = "boolean" },
-      default = { default = function() return "default" end },
+      default = { default = function(t)
+                              assert.truthy(t)
+                              return "default"
+                            end },
       custom = { func = function(v, t)
                           if v then
                             if t.default == "test_custom_func" then