diff --git a/src/backend/commands/tablecmds.c b/src/backend/commands/tablecmds.c
index b0dac88471e..541c75ab962 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/tablecmds.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/tablecmds.c
@@ -6557,7 +6557,6 @@ static void
 ATPrepSetTableSpace(AlteredTableInfo *tab, Relation rel, char *tablespacename)
 {
 	Oid			tablespaceId;
-	AclResult	aclresult;
 
 	/* Check that the tablespace exists */
 	tablespaceId = get_tablespace_oid(tablespacename);
@@ -6566,16 +6565,22 @@ ATPrepSetTableSpace(AlteredTableInfo *tab, Relation rel, char *tablespacename)
 				(errcode(ERRCODE_UNDEFINED_OBJECT),
 				 errmsg("tablespace \"%s\" does not exist", tablespacename)));
 
-	/* Check its permissions */
-	aclresult = pg_tablespace_aclcheck(tablespaceId, GetUserId(), ACL_CREATE);
-	if (aclresult != ACLCHECK_OK)
-		aclcheck_error(aclresult, ACL_KIND_TABLESPACE, tablespacename);
+	/* Check permissions except when moving to database's default */
+	if (OidIsValid(tablespaceId) && tablespaceId != MyDatabaseTableSpace)
+	{
+		AclResult	aclresult;
+
+		aclresult = pg_tablespace_aclcheck(tablespaceId, GetUserId(), ACL_CREATE);
+		if (aclresult != ACLCHECK_OK)
+			aclcheck_error(aclresult, ACL_KIND_TABLESPACE, tablespacename);
+	}
 
 	/* Save info for Phase 3 to do the real work */
 	if (OidIsValid(tab->newTableSpace))
 		ereport(ERROR,
 				(errcode(ERRCODE_SYNTAX_ERROR),
 				 errmsg("cannot have multiple SET TABLESPACE subcommands")));
+
 	tab->newTableSpace = tablespaceId;
 }