diff --git a/.changeset/rich-owls-smell.md b/.changeset/rich-owls-smell.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cc8c0fa5c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/rich-owls-smell.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/catalog-model': patch
+---
+
+Remove requirement for 'target' property of EntityRelation
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/schema/shared/common.schema.json b/packages/catalog-model/src/schema/shared/common.schema.json
index 7468bd9d70..77eb4a2612 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/schema/shared/common.schema.json
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/schema/shared/common.schema.json
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
       "$id": "#relation",
       "type": "object",
       "description": "A directed relation from one entity to another.",
-      "required": ["type", "target", "targetRef"],
+      "required": ["type", "targetRef"],
       "additionalProperties": false,
       "properties": {
         "type": {
diff --git a/packages/catalog-model/src/validation/entitySchemaValidator.test.ts b/packages/catalog-model/src/validation/entitySchemaValidator.test.ts
index bc31c5d800..cf3339b098 100644
--- a/packages/catalog-model/src/validation/entitySchemaValidator.test.ts
+++ b/packages/catalog-model/src/validation/entitySchemaValidator.test.ts
@@ -365,11 +365,6 @@ describe('entitySchemaValidator', () => {
     expect(() => validator(entity)).toThrow(/relations/);
   });
 
-  it('does reject missing relations.target', () => {
-    delete entity.relations[0].target;
-    expect(() => validator(entity)).toThrow(/relations/);
-  });
-
   it('does reject missing relations.targetRef', () => {
     delete entity.relations[0].targetRef;
     expect(() => validator(entity)).toThrow(/relations/);