diff --git a/google/cloud/bigquery/dataset.py b/google/cloud/bigquery/dataset.py
index c30204067..0edd29359 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigquery/dataset.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigquery/dataset.py
@@ -215,6 +215,9 @@ def __ne__(self, other):
     def __hash__(self):
         return hash(self._key())
 
+    def __str__(self):
+        return f"{self.project}.{self._dataset_id}"
+
     def __repr__(self):
         return "DatasetReference{}".format(self._key())
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_dataset.py b/tests/unit/test_dataset.py
index 856674daf..5e26a0c03 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_dataset.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_dataset.py
@@ -622,6 +622,10 @@ def test___repr__(self):
         expected = "DatasetReference('project1', 'dataset1')"
         self.assertEqual(repr(dataset), expected)
 
+    def test___str__(self):
+        dataset = self._make_one("project1", "dataset1")
+        self.assertEqual(str(dataset), "project1.dataset1")
+
 
 class TestDataset(unittest.TestCase):
     from google.cloud.bigquery.dataset import DatasetReference