diff --git a/swh/vault/api/server.py b/swh/vault/api/server.py
--- a/swh/vault/api/server.py
+++ b/swh/vault/api/server.py
@@ -67,13 +67,13 @@
         raise EnvironmentError(
             "The vault backend can only be started with a 'local' configuration",
         )
-    args = vcfg["args"]
+    args = vcfg.get("args", {})
     if "cache" not in args:
-        args["cache"] = cfg.get("cache")
+        args["cache"] = vcfg.get("cache", cfg.get("cache"))
     if "storage" not in args:
-        args["storage"] = cfg.get("storage")
+        args["storage"] = vcfg.get("storage", cfg.get("storage"))
     if "scheduler" not in args:
-        args["scheduler"] = cfg.get("scheduler")
+        args["scheduler"] = vcfg.get("scheduler", cfg.get("scheduler"))
 
     for key in ("cache", "storage", "scheduler"):
         if not args.get(key):
diff --git a/swh/vault/cookers/__init__.py b/swh/vault/cookers/__init__.py
--- a/swh/vault/cookers/__init__.py
+++ b/swh/vault/cookers/__init__.py
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@
         raise EnvironmentError(
             "This vault backend can only be a 'remote' configuration"
         )
-    args = vcfg["args"]
+
+    args = vcfg.get("args", {})
     if "storage" not in args:
         args["storage"] = cfg.get("storage")
 
diff --git a/swh/vault/tests/conftest.py b/swh/vault/tests/conftest.py
--- a/swh/vault/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/swh/vault/tests/conftest.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@
 @pytest.fixture
 def swh_local_vault_config(swh_vault_config: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     return {
-        "vault": {"cls": "local", "args": swh_vault_config},
+        "vault": {"cls": "local", **swh_vault_config},
         "client_max_size": 1024 ** 3,
     }
 
diff --git a/swh/vault/tests/test_init_cookers.py b/swh/vault/tests/test_init_cookers.py
--- a/swh/vault/tests/test_init_cookers.py
+++ b/swh/vault/tests/test_init_cookers.py
@@ -63,7 +63,6 @@
             ValueError,
             "invalid configuration: missing 'storage' config entry",
         ),
-        ({"vault": {"cls": "remote"}}, KeyError, "args",),
     ],
 )
 def test_get_cooker_config_ko(
@@ -94,6 +93,10 @@
             "vault": {"cls": "remote", "args": {"url": "mock://vault-backend",},},
             "storage": {"cls": "remote", "url": "mock://storage-url"},
         },
+        {
+            "vault": {"cls": "remote", "url": "mock://vault-backend",},
+            "storage": {"cls": "remote", "url": "mock://storage-url"},
+        },
     ],
 )
 def test_get_cooker_nominal(config_ok, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
diff --git a/swh/vault/tests/test_server.py b/swh/vault/tests/test_server.py
--- a/swh/vault/tests/test_server.py
+++ b/swh/vault/tests/test_server.py
@@ -114,9 +114,9 @@
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("missing_key", ["storage", "cache", "scheduler"])
 def test_check_config_missing_key(missing_key, swh_vault_config) -> None:
     """Any other configuration than 'local' (the default) is rejected"""
-    config_ok = {"vault": {"cls": "local", "args": swh_vault_config}}
+    config_ok = {"vault": {"cls": "local", **swh_vault_config}}
     config_ko = copy.deepcopy(config_ok)
-    config_ko["vault"]["args"].pop(missing_key, None)
+    config_ko["vault"].pop(missing_key, None)
 
     expected_error = f"invalid configuration: missing {missing_key} config entry"
     with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=expected_error):
@@ -126,5 +126,5 @@
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("missing_key", ["storage", "cache", "scheduler"])
 def test_check_config_ok(missing_key, swh_vault_config) -> None:
     """Any other configuration than 'local' (the default) is rejected"""
-    config_ok = {"vault": {"cls": "local", "args": swh_vault_config}}
+    config_ok = {"vault": {"cls": "local", **swh_vault_config}}
     assert check_config(config_ok) is not None