diff --git a/Snakefile b/Snakefile
index 8391156c..ee24841a 100644
--- a/Snakefile
+++ b/Snakefile
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 
-from os.path import normpath, exists
-from shutil import copyfile, move, rmtree
+from os.path import normpath
+from shutil import move, rmtree
 
 from snakemake.remote.HTTP import RemoteProvider as HTTPRemoteProvider
 
@@ -13,12 +13,8 @@ from snakemake.utils import min_version
 
 min_version("7.7")
 
-conf_file = os.path.join(workflow.current_basedir, "config/config.yaml")
-conf_default_file = os.path.join(workflow.current_basedir, "config/config.default.yaml")
-if not exists(conf_file) and exists(conf_default_file):
-    copyfile(conf_default_file, conf_file)
-
 
+configfile: "config/config.default.yaml"
 configfile: "config/config.yaml"
 
 
diff --git a/config/config.yaml b/config/config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..efe2ccb2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: : 2024 The PyPSA-Eur Authors
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
+# add your own configuration overrides here, for instance
+
+version: 0.9.0
+# enable:
+#   retrieve: false
diff --git a/doc/configuration.rst b/doc/configuration.rst
index 92ed269b..f65aa4c2 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.rst
+++ b/doc/configuration.rst
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 Configuration
 ##########################################
 
-PyPSA-Eur has several configuration options which are documented in this section and are collected in a ``config/config.yaml`` file located in the root directory. Users should copy the provided default configuration (``config/config.default.yaml``) and amend their own modifications and assumptions in the user-specific configuration file (``config/config.yaml``); confer installation instructions at :ref:`defaultconfig`.
+PyPSA-Eur has several configuration options which are documented in this section and are collected in a ``config/config.yaml`` file. This file defines deviations from the default configuration (``config/config.default.yaml``); confer installation instructions at :ref:`defaultconfig`.
 
 .. _toplevel_cf:
 
diff --git a/doc/installation.rst b/doc/installation.rst
index 01fdafeb..4289b098 100644
--- a/doc/installation.rst
+++ b/doc/installation.rst
@@ -118,11 +118,10 @@ Nevertheless, you can still use open-source solvers for smaller problems.
 Handling Configuration Files
 ============================
 
-PyPSA-Eur has several configuration options that must be specified in a
-``config/config.yaml`` file located in the root directory. An example configuration
-``config/config.default.yaml`` is maintained in the repository, which will be used to
-automatically create your customisable ``config/config.yaml`` on first use. More
-details on the configuration options are in :ref:`config`.
+PyPSA-Eur has several configuration options that users can specify in a
+``config/config.yaml`` file. The default configuration
+``config/config.default.yaml`` is maintained in the repository. More details on
+the configuration options are in :ref:`config`.
 
 You can also use ``snakemake`` to specify another file, e.g.
 ``config/config.mymodifications.yaml``, to update the settings of the ``config/config.yaml``.
@@ -130,8 +129,3 @@ You can also use ``snakemake`` to specify another file, e.g.
 .. code:: bash
 
     .../pypsa-eur % snakemake -call --configfile config/config.mymodifications.yaml
-
-.. warning::
-    Users are advised to regularly check their own ``config/config.yaml`` against changes
-    in the ``config/config.default.yaml`` when pulling a new version from the remote
-    repository.
diff --git a/doc/introduction.rst b/doc/introduction.rst
index 413db9d1..0047f0a7 100644
--- a/doc/introduction.rst
+++ b/doc/introduction.rst
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ what data to retrieve and what files to produce. Details are explained in
 :ref:`wildcards` and :ref:`scenario`.
 
 The model also has several further configuration options collected in the
-``config/config.yaml`` file located in the root directory, which that are not part of
+``config/config.default.yaml`` file located in the root directory, which that are not part of
 the scenarios. Options are explained in :ref:`config`.
 
 Folder Structure
diff --git a/doc/release_notes.rst b/doc/release_notes.rst
index fce4ae1b..cab8229a 100644
--- a/doc/release_notes.rst
+++ b/doc/release_notes.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ Release Notes
 Upcoming Release
 ================
 
+* The default configuration ``config/config.default.yaml`` is now automatically
+  used as a base configuration file and no longer copied to
+  ``config/config.yaml`` on first use. The file ``config/config.yaml`` should be
+  used to define deviations from the default configuration.
+
 * Merged two OPSD time series data versions into such that the option ``load:
   power_statistics:`` becomes superfluous and was hence removed.