diff --git a/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreFactory.scala b/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreFactory.scala
index 14dc1458cf44..b808a3d2b474 100644
--- a/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreFactory.scala
+++ b/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/main/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreFactory.scala
@@ -44,8 +44,15 @@ class PartitionedPostgisDataStoreFactory extends PostgisNGDataStoreFactory with
     source
   }
 
-  override protected def createDataStoreInternal(store: JDBCDataStore, params: java.util.Map[String, _]): JDBCDataStore = {
-
+  override protected def createDataStoreInternal(store: JDBCDataStore, baseParams: java.util.Map[String, _]): JDBCDataStore = {
+    val params = new java.util.HashMap[String, Any](baseParams)
+    // set default schema, if not specified - postgis store doesn't actually use its own default
+    if (!params.containsKey(PostgisNGDataStoreFactory.SCHEMA.key)) {
+      // need to set it in the store, as the key has already been processed
+      store.setDatabaseSchema("public")
+      // also set in the params for consistency, although it's not used anywhere
+      params.put(PostgisNGDataStoreFactory.SCHEMA.key, "public")
+    }
     val ds = super.createDataStoreInternal(store, params)
     val dialect = new PartitionedPostgisDialect(ds)
 
diff --git a/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreTest.scala b/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreTest.scala
index befca791c034..de6ed3bf17e4 100644
--- a/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreTest.scala
+++ b/geomesa-gt/geomesa-gt-partitioning/src/test/scala/org/locationtech/geomesa/gt/partition/postgis/PartitionedPostgisDataStoreTest.scala
@@ -77,7 +77,6 @@ class PartitionedPostgisDataStoreTest extends Specification with BeforeAfterAll
     "dbtype" -> PartitionedPostgisDataStoreParams.DbType.sample,
     "host" -> host,
     "port" -> port,
-    "schema" -> schema,
     "database" -> "postgres",
     "user" -> "postgres",
     "passwd" -> "postgres",