diff --git a/cluster/points_writer.go b/cluster/points_writer.go
index 7bba01b886..3eda9f555e 100644
--- a/cluster/points_writer.go
+++ b/cluster/points_writer.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ type PointsWriter struct {
 
 	MetaStore interface {
 		NodeID() uint64
+		Database(name string) (di *meta.DatabaseInfo, err error)
 		RetentionPolicy(database, policy string) (*meta.RetentionPolicyInfo, error)
 		CreateShardGroupIfNotExists(database, policy string, timestamp time.Time) (*meta.ShardGroupInfo, error)
 	}
@@ -150,6 +151,14 @@ func (w *PointsWriter) MapShards(wp *WritePointsRequest) (*ShardMapping, error)
 
 // WritePoints writes across multiple local and remote data nodes according the consistency level.
 func (w *PointsWriter) WritePoints(p *WritePointsRequest) error {
+	if p.RetentionPolicy == "" {
+		db, err := w.MetaStore.Database(p.Database)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		p.RetentionPolicy = db.DefaultRetentionPolicy
+	}
+
 	shardMappings, err := w.MapShards(p)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
diff --git a/cluster/points_writer_test.go b/cluster/points_writer_test.go
index 0a8ccbc589..583de515c7 100644
--- a/cluster/points_writer_test.go
+++ b/cluster/points_writer_test.go
@@ -304,6 +304,7 @@ type MetaStore struct {
 	NodeIDFn                      func() uint64
 	RetentionPolicyFn             func(database, name string) (*meta.RetentionPolicyInfo, error)
 	CreateShardGroupIfNotExistsFn func(database, policy string, timestamp time.Time) (*meta.ShardGroupInfo, error)
+	DatabaseFn                    func(database string) (*meta.DatabaseInfo, error)
 }
 
 func (m MetaStore) NodeID() uint64 { return m.NodeIDFn() }
@@ -316,6 +317,10 @@ func (m MetaStore) CreateShardGroupIfNotExists(database, policy string, timestam
 	return m.CreateShardGroupIfNotExistsFn(database, policy, timestamp)
 }
 
+func (m MetaStore) Database(database string) (*meta.DatabaseInfo, error) {
+	return m.DatabaseFn(database)
+}
+
 func NewRetentionPolicy(name string, duration time.Duration, nodeCount int) *meta.RetentionPolicyInfo {
 	shards := []meta.ShardInfo{}
 	ownerIDs := []uint64{}
diff --git a/meta/data.go b/meta/data.go
index c688529bee..d7ef4b0947 100644
--- a/meta/data.go
+++ b/meta/data.go
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ func (data *Data) RetentionPolicy(database, name string) (*RetentionPolicyInfo,
 			return &di.RetentionPolicies[i], nil
 		}
 	}
-	return nil, nil
+	return nil, ErrRetentionPolicyNotFound
 }
 
 // CreateRetentionPolicy creates a new retention policy on a database.