diff --git a/configs/configschema/coerce_value.go b/configs/configschema/coerce_value.go
index 23a48e1be..41a533745 100644
--- a/configs/configschema/coerce_value.go
+++ b/configs/configschema/coerce_value.go
@@ -8,9 +8,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // CoerceValue attempts to force the given value to conform to the type
-// implied by the receiever, while also applying the same validation and
-// transformation rules that would be applied by the decoder specification
-// returned by method DecoderSpec.
+// implied by the receiever.
 //
 // This is useful in situations where a configuration must be derived from
 // an already-decoded value. It is always better to decode directly from
@@ -83,16 +81,8 @@ func (b *Block) coerceValue(in cty.Value, path cty.Path) (cty.Value, error) {
 				if err != nil {
 					return cty.UnknownVal(b.ImpliedType()), err
 				}
-			case blockS.MinItems != 1 && blockS.MaxItems != 1:
-				if blockS.Nesting == NestingGroup {
-					attrs[typeName] = blockS.EmptyValue()
-				} else {
-					attrs[typeName] = cty.NullVal(blockS.ImpliedType())
-				}
 			default:
-				// We use the word "attribute" here because we're talking about
-				// the cty sense of that word rather than the HCL sense.
-				return cty.UnknownVal(b.ImpliedType()), path.NewErrorf("attribute %q is required", typeName)
+				attrs[typeName] = blockS.EmptyValue()
 			}
 
 		case NestingList:
diff --git a/configs/configschema/coerce_value_test.go b/configs/configschema/coerce_value_test.go
index 084107878..974dfdd35 100644
--- a/configs/configschema/coerce_value_test.go
+++ b/configs/configschema/coerce_value_test.go
@@ -288,8 +288,10 @@ func TestCoerceValue(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 			cty.EmptyObjectVal,
-			cty.DynamicVal,
-			`attribute "foo" is required`,
+			cty.ObjectVal(map[string]cty.Value{
+				"foo": cty.NullVal(cty.EmptyObject),
+			}),
+			``,
 		},
 		"unknown nested list": {
 			&Block{