diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/__tests__/config.spec.js b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/__tests__/config.spec.js
index 7b6f3081..922ee800 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/__tests__/config.spec.js
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/__tests__/config.spec.js
@@ -3,103 +3,169 @@ import { applyDefaults } from '../config';
 
 describe('config', () => {
   describe('applyDefaults', () => {
-    it('should set publish_mode if not set', () => {
-      const config = fromJS({
-        foo: 'bar',
-        media_folder: 'path/to/media',
-        public_folder: '/path/to/media',
-        collections: [],
+    describe('publish_mode', () => {
+      it('should set publish_mode if not set', () => {
+        const config = fromJS({
+          foo: 'bar',
+          media_folder: 'path/to/media',
+          public_folder: '/path/to/media',
+          collections: [],
+        });
+        expect(applyDefaults(config).get('publish_mode')).toEqual('simple');
       });
-      expect(applyDefaults(config).get('publish_mode')).toEqual('simple');
-    });
 
-    it('should set publish_mode from config', () => {
-      const config = fromJS({
-        foo: 'bar',
-        publish_mode: 'complex',
-        media_folder: 'path/to/media',
-        public_folder: '/path/to/media',
-        collections: [],
+      it('should set publish_mode from config', () => {
+        const config = fromJS({
+          foo: 'bar',
+          publish_mode: 'complex',
+          media_folder: 'path/to/media',
+          public_folder: '/path/to/media',
+          collections: [],
+        });
+        expect(applyDefaults(config).get('publish_mode')).toEqual('complex');
       });
-      expect(applyDefaults(config).get('publish_mode')).toEqual('complex');
     });
 
-    it('should set public_folder based on media_folder if not set', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(
-          fromJS({
-            foo: 'bar',
-            media_folder: 'path/to/media',
-            collections: [],
-          }),
-        ).get('public_folder'),
-      ).toEqual('/path/to/media');
+    describe('public_folder', () => {
+      it('should set public_folder based on media_folder if not set', () => {
+        expect(
+          applyDefaults(
+            fromJS({
+              foo: 'bar',
+              media_folder: 'path/to/media',
+              collections: [],
+            }),
+          ).get('public_folder'),
+        ).toEqual('/path/to/media');
+      });
+
+      it('should not overwrite public_folder if set', () => {
+        expect(
+          applyDefaults(
+            fromJS({
+              foo: 'bar',
+              media_folder: 'path/to/media',
+              public_folder: '/publib/path',
+              collections: [],
+            }),
+          ).get('public_folder'),
+        ).toEqual('/publib/path');
+      });
     });
 
-    it('should not overwrite public_folder if set', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(
-          fromJS({
-            foo: 'bar',
-            media_folder: 'path/to/media',
-            public_folder: '/publib/path',
-            collections: [],
-          }),
-        ).get('public_folder'),
-      ).toEqual('/publib/path');
-    });
+    describe('collections', () => {
+      it('should strip leading slashes from collection folder', () => {
+        expect(
+          applyDefaults(
+            fromJS({
+              collections: [{ folder: '/foo' }],
+            }),
+          ).get('collections'),
+        ).toEqual(fromJS([{ folder: 'foo' }]));
+      });
 
-    it('should strip leading slashes from collection folder', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(
-          fromJS({
-            collections: [{ folder: '/foo' }],
-          }),
-        ).get('collections'),
-      ).toEqual(fromJS([{ folder: 'foo' }]));
-    });
+      it('should strip leading slashes from collection files', () => {
+        expect(
+          applyDefaults(
+            fromJS({
+              collections: [{ files: [{ file: '/foo' }] }],
+            }),
+          ).get('collections'),
+        ).toEqual(fromJS([{ files: [{ file: 'foo' }] }]));
+      });
 
-    it('should strip leading slashes from collection files', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(
-          fromJS({
-            collections: [{ files: [{ file: '/foo' }] }],
-          }),
-        ).get('collections'),
-      ).toEqual(fromJS([{ files: [{ file: 'foo' }] }]));
-    });
+      describe('slug', () => {
+        it('should set default slug config if not set', () => {
+          expect(applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [] })).get('slug')).toEqual(
+            fromJS({ encoding: 'unicode', clean_accents: false, sanitize_replacement: '-' }),
+          );
+        });
 
-    it('should set default slug config', () => {
-      expect(applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [] })).get('slug')).toEqual(
-        fromJS({ encoding: 'unicode', clean_accents: false, sanitize_replacement: '-' }),
-      );
-    });
+        it('should not overwrite slug encoding if set', () => {
+          expect(
+            applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [], slug: { encoding: 'ascii' } })).getIn([
+              'slug',
+              'encoding',
+            ]),
+          ).toEqual('ascii');
+        });
 
-    it('should not override slug encoding', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [], slug: { encoding: 'ascii' } })).getIn([
-          'slug',
-          'encoding',
-        ]),
-      ).toEqual('ascii');
-    });
+        it('should not overwrite slug clean_accents if set', () => {
+          expect(
+            applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [], slug: { clean_accents: true } })).getIn([
+              'slug',
+              'clean_accents',
+            ]),
+          ).toEqual(true);
+        });
 
-    it('should not override slug clean_accents', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [], slug: { clean_accents: true } })).getIn([
-          'slug',
-          'clean_accents',
-        ]),
-      ).toEqual(true);
-    });
+        it('should not overwrite slug sanitize_replacement if set', () => {
+          expect(
+            applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [], slug: { sanitize_replacement: '_' } })).getIn([
+              'slug',
+              'sanitize_replacement',
+            ]),
+          ).toEqual('_');
+        });
+      });
 
-    it('should not override slug sanitize_replacement', () => {
-      expect(
-        applyDefaults(fromJS({ collections: [], slug: { sanitize_replacement: '_' } })).getIn([
-          'slug',
-          'sanitize_replacement',
-        ]),
-      ).toEqual('_');
+      describe('public_folder and media_folder', () => {
+        it('should set collection public_folder collection based on media_folder if not set', () => {
+          expect(
+            applyDefaults(
+              fromJS({
+                collections: [{ folder: 'foo', media_folder: 'static/images/docs' }],
+              }),
+            ).get('collections'),
+          ).toEqual(
+            fromJS([
+              {
+                folder: 'foo',
+                media_folder: 'static/images/docs',
+                public_folder: 'static/images/docs',
+              },
+            ]),
+          );
+        });
+
+        it('should not overwrite collection public_folder if set', () => {
+          expect(
+            applyDefaults(
+              fromJS({
+                collections: [
+                  {
+                    folder: 'foo',
+                    media_folder: 'static/images/docs',
+                    public_folder: 'images/docs',
+                  },
+                ],
+              }),
+            ).get('collections'),
+          ).toEqual(
+            fromJS([
+              {
+                folder: 'foo',
+                media_folder: 'static/images/docs',
+                public_folder: 'images/docs',
+              },
+            ]),
+          );
+        });
+
+        it("should set collection media_folder and public_folder to an empty string when collection path exists, but collection media_folder doesn't", () => {
+          expect(
+            applyDefaults(
+              fromJS({
+                collections: [{ folder: 'foo', path: '{{slug}}/index' }],
+              }),
+            ).get('collections'),
+          ).toEqual(
+            fromJS([
+              { folder: 'foo', path: '{{slug}}/index', media_folder: '', public_folder: '' },
+            ]),
+          );
+        });
+      });
     });
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js
index d1cd8422..973affb1 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/actions/config.js
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ export function applyDefaults(config) {
               // default value for media folder when using the path config
               collection = collection.set('media_folder', '');
             }
+            if (collection.has('media_folder') && !collection.has('public_folder')) {
+              collection = collection.set('public_folder', collection.get('media_folder'));
+            }
             return collection.set('folder', trimStart(folder, '/'));
           }
 
diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/__tests__/entries.spec.js b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/__tests__/entries.spec.js
index ab6b1dc2..4ca52042 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/__tests__/entries.spec.js
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/__tests__/entries.spec.js
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ describe('entries', () => {
       ).toBe('/media/image.png');
     });
 
-    it('should resolve path from public folder when in editorial workflow for collection with no media folder', () => {
+    it('should resolve path from public folder when in editorial workflow for collection with no public folder', () => {
       expect(
         selectMediaFilePublicPath(
           Map({ public_folder: '/media', publish_mode: EDITORIAL_WORKFLOW }),
@@ -192,21 +192,21 @@ describe('entries', () => {
       ).toBe('/media/image.png');
     });
 
-    it('should resolve path from collection media folder when in editorial workflow for collection with media folder', () => {
+    it('should resolve path from collection media folder when in editorial workflow for collection with public folder', () => {
       expect(
         selectMediaFilePublicPath(
           Map({ public_folder: '/media', publish_mode: EDITORIAL_WORKFLOW }),
-          Map({ name: 'posts', folder: 'posts', media_folder: '' }),
+          Map({ name: 'posts', folder: 'posts', public_folder: '' }),
           'image.png',
         ),
       ).toBe('image.png');
     });
 
-    it('should handle relative media_folder', () => {
+    it('should handle relative public_folder', () => {
       expect(
         selectMediaFilePublicPath(
           Map({ public_folder: '/media', publish_mode: EDITORIAL_WORKFLOW }),
-          Map({ name: 'posts', folder: 'posts', media_folder: '../../static/media/' }),
+          Map({ name: 'posts', folder: 'posts', public_folder: '../../static/media/' }),
           'image.png',
         ),
       ).toBe('../../static/media/image.png');
diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/entries.ts b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/entries.ts
index a8a1055b..f63052aa 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/entries.ts
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/reducers/entries.ts
@@ -190,8 +190,8 @@ export const selectMediaFilePublicPath = (
   let publicFolder = config.get('public_folder');
 
   const useWorkflow = config.get('publish_mode') === EDITORIAL_WORKFLOW;
-  if (useWorkflow && collection && collection.has('media_folder')) {
-    publicFolder = collection.get('media_folder') as string;
+  if (useWorkflow && collection && collection.has('public_folder')) {
+    publicFolder = collection.get('public_folder') as string;
   }
 
   return join(publicFolder, basename(mediaPath));
diff --git a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/types/redux.ts b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/types/redux.ts
index ee726641..93b09095 100644
--- a/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/types/redux.ts
+++ b/packages/netlify-cms-core/src/types/redux.ts
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ type CollectionObject = {
   fields: EntryFields;
   isFetching: boolean;
   media_folder?: string;
+  public_folder?: string;
   preview_path?: string;
   preview_path_date_field?: string;
   summary?: string;