diff --git a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/appender/ConsoleAppender.java b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/appender/ConsoleAppender.java
index 1b1bf5e2bdb..d5445456d84 100644
--- a/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/appender/ConsoleAppender.java
+++ b/log4j-core/src/main/java/org/apache/logging/log4j/core/appender/ConsoleAppender.java
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ public static ConsoleAppender createAppender(
         return newBuilder()
                 .setLayout(layout)
                 .setFilter(filter)
-                .setTarget(target)
+                .setTarget(target == null ? DEFAULT_TARGET : target)
                 .setName(name)
                 .setFollow(follow)
                 .setDirect(direct)
diff --git a/src/changelog/.2.x.x/3852-default-target.xml b/src/changelog/.2.x.x/3852-default-target.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ec4c28297d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/changelog/.2.x.x/3852-default-target.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<entry xmlns="https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns"
+       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+       xsi:schemaLocation="
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns
+           https://logging.apache.org/xml/ns/log4j-changelog-0.xsd"
+       type="fixed">
+  <issue id="3852" link="https://github.com/apache/logging-log4j2/pull/3852"/>
+  <description format="asciidoc">
+    Fix missing default `Target` value in Console Appender.
+  </description>
+</entry>