diff --git a/dvc/dependency/gs.py b/dvc/dependency/gs.py
index ebe398486..60f44433e 100644
--- a/dvc/dependency/gs.py
+++ b/dvc/dependency/gs.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class DependencyGS(DependencyS3):
     def __init__(self, stage, path, info=None):
         super(DependencyGS, self).__init__(stage, path)
         self.info = info
-        self.remote = RemoteGS(stage.project, {Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL: '/'})
+        self.remote = RemoteGS(stage.project, {})
         self.path_info = {'scheme': 'gs',
                           'bucket': urlparse(path).netloc,
                           'key': urlparse(path).path.lstrip('/')}
diff --git a/dvc/dependency/local.py b/dvc/dependency/local.py
index 56dc4bc9f..999497aba 100644
--- a/dvc/dependency/local.py
+++ b/dvc/dependency/local.py
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ class DependencyLOCAL(DependencyBase):
             path = os.path.join(stage.cwd, path)
         self.path = os.path.normpath(path)
         self.info = info
-        self.remote = RemoteLOCAL(stage.project,
-                        {Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL: self.project.dvc_dir})
+        self.remote = RemoteLOCAL(stage.project, {})
         self.path_info = {'scheme': 'local',
                           'path': self.path}
 
diff --git a/dvc/dependency/s3.py b/dvc/dependency/s3.py
index 78beb4c89..fd5babc65 100644
--- a/dvc/dependency/s3.py
+++ b/dvc/dependency/s3.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class DependencyS3(DependencyBase):
     def __init__(self, stage, path, info=None):
         super(DependencyS3, self).__init__(stage, path)
         self.info = info
-        self.remote = RemoteS3(stage.project, {Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL: '/'})
+        self.remote = RemoteS3(stage.project, {})
         self.path_info = {'scheme': 's3',
                           'bucket': urlparse(path).netloc,
                           'key': urlparse(path).path.lstrip('/')}
diff --git a/dvc/remote/gs.py b/dvc/remote/gs.py
index c70df703a..a1dd53793 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/gs.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/gs.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class RemoteGS(RemoteBase):
 
     def __init__(self, project, config):
         self.project = project
-        self.url = config[Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL]
+        self.url = config.get(Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL, '/')
         self.projectname = config.get(Config.SECTION_GCP_PROJECTNAME, None)
 
     @property
diff --git a/dvc/remote/local.py b/dvc/remote/local.py
index 9c98d493a..586aded08 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/local.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/local.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class RemoteLOCAL(RemoteBase):
     def __init__(self, project, config):
         self.project = project
         self.link_state = project.link_state
-        self.cache_dir = config[Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL]
+        self.cache_dir = config.get(Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL, os.path.abspath(os.sep))
         self.cache_type = config.get(Config.SECTION_CACHE_TYPE, None)
 
         if not os.path.exists(self.cache_dir):
diff --git a/dvc/remote/s3.py b/dvc/remote/s3.py
index cfc9cb2ac..3d33bf0dd 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/s3.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/s3.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ class RemoteS3(RemoteBase):
 
     def __init__(self, project, config):
         self.project = project
-        self.url = config[Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL]
+        self.url = config.get(Config.SECTION_REMOTE_URL, '/')
         self.region = config.get(Config.SECTION_AWS_REGION, None)
         self.profile = config.get(Config.SECTION_AWS_PROFILE, None)
         self.credentialpath = config.get(Config.SECTION_AWS_CREDENTIALPATH, None)