diff --git a/providers/apache/hdfs/src/airflow/providers/apache/hdfs/assets/hdfs.py b/providers/apache/hdfs/src/airflow/providers/apache/hdfs/assets/hdfs.py
index b21cd08852f31..7bf0fb34ceb2d 100644
--- a/providers/apache/hdfs/src/airflow/providers/apache/hdfs/assets/hdfs.py
+++ b/providers/apache/hdfs/src/airflow/providers/apache/hdfs/assets/hdfs.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import urllib.parse
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from airflow.providers.common.compat.assets import Asset
@@ -26,10 +27,12 @@
 
     from airflow.providers.common.compat.openlineage.facet import Dataset as OpenLineageDataset
 
+# Preserve the empty-authority "hdfs:///path" (fs.defaultFS) form through urlunsplit, like "file".
+if "hdfs" not in urllib.parse.uses_netloc:
+    urllib.parse.uses_netloc.append("hdfs")
+
 
 def sanitize_uri(uri: SplitResult) -> SplitResult:
-    if not uri.netloc:
-        raise ValueError("URI format hdfs:// must contain a namenode host")
     if not uri.path:
         raise ValueError("URI format hdfs:// must contain a path")
     return uri
diff --git a/providers/apache/hdfs/tests/unit/apache/hdfs/assets/test_hdfs.py b/providers/apache/hdfs/tests/unit/apache/hdfs/assets/test_hdfs.py
index a55e60fa07c9a..daae2c5d4bf16 100644
--- a/providers/apache/hdfs/tests/unit/apache/hdfs/assets/test_hdfs.py
+++ b/providers/apache/hdfs/tests/unit/apache/hdfs/assets/test_hdfs.py
@@ -42,6 +42,23 @@
             "hdfs://namenode/data/file.csv",
             id="no-explicit-port",
         ),
+        # hdfs:///path (fs.defaultFS) preserves the empty authority.
+        pytest.param(
+            "hdfs:///apps/myapp/data/bronze/raw/table.parquet",
+            "hdfs:///apps/myapp/data/bronze/raw/table.parquet",
+            id="default-fs-no-host",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            "hdfs:///data/file.csv",
+            "hdfs:///data/file.csv",
+            id="default-fs-short-path",
+        ),
+        # Bare hdfs:/path canonicalizes to the empty-authority form.
+        pytest.param(
+            "hdfs:/data/file.csv",
+            "hdfs:///data/file.csv",
+            id="default-fs-single-slash",
+        ),
     ],
 )
 def test_sanitize_uri_pass(original: str, normalized: str) -> None:
@@ -54,12 +71,12 @@ def test_sanitize_uri_pass(original: str, normalized: str) -> None:
     "value",
     [
         pytest.param("hdfs://", id="blank"),
-        pytest.param("hdfs:///path/to/file", id="no-host"),
+        pytest.param("hdfs://namenode:8020", id="no-path"),
     ],
 )
 def test_sanitize_uri_fail(value: str) -> None:
     uri_i = urllib.parse.urlsplit(value)
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="URI format hdfs:// must contain"):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="URI format hdfs:// must contain a path"):
         sanitize_uri(uri_i)
 
 
@@ -90,3 +107,17 @@ def test_convert_asset_to_openlineage(expected_name, uri) -> None:
     ol_dataset = convert_asset_to_openlineage(asset=asset, lineage_context=None)
     assert ol_dataset.namespace == "hdfs://namenode:8020"
     assert ol_dataset.name == expected_name
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("expected_name", "uri"),
+    [
+        pytest.param("apps/myapp/data.parquet", "hdfs:///apps/myapp/data.parquet", id="default-fs"),
+        pytest.param("data/file.csv", "hdfs:///data/file.csv", id="default-fs-short"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_convert_asset_to_openlineage_default_fs(expected_name, uri) -> None:
+    asset = Asset(uri=uri)
+    ol_dataset = convert_asset_to_openlineage(asset=asset, lineage_context=None)
+    assert ol_dataset.namespace == "hdfs://"
+    assert ol_dataset.name == expected_name