diff --git a/batik-bridge/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/bridge/AbstractSVGGradientElementBridge.java b/batik-bridge/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/bridge/AbstractSVGGradientElementBridge.java
index 0d1fd1606f..2b587d41cb 100644
--- a/batik-bridge/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/bridge/AbstractSVGGradientElementBridge.java
+++ b/batik-bridge/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/bridge/AbstractSVGGradientElementBridge.java
@@ -313,9 +313,8 @@ public Stop createStop(BridgeContext ctx,
 
             String s = stopElement.getAttributeNS(null, SVG_OFFSET_ATTRIBUTE);
             if (s.length() == 0) {
-                throw new BridgeException
-                    (ctx, stopElement, ERR_ATTRIBUTE_MISSING,
-                     new Object[] {SVG_OFFSET_ATTRIBUTE});
+                //use default value according to the specification
+                s = "0";
             }
             float offset;
             try {
diff --git a/batik-test-svg/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/test/svg/AbstractSVGGradietElementBridgeOffsetAttributeTest.java b/batik-test-svg/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/test/svg/AbstractSVGGradietElementBridgeOffsetAttributeTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a842460ff8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/batik-test-svg/src/main/java/org/apache/batik/test/svg/AbstractSVGGradietElementBridgeOffsetAttributeTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+
+   Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+   contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+   this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+   The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+   (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+   the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+
+ */
+package org.apache.batik.test.svg;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import org.apache.batik.test.AbstractTest;
+import org.apache.batik.test.TestReport;
+import org.apache.batik.transcoder.TranscoderInput;
+import org.apache.batik.transcoder.TranscoderOutput;
+import org.apache.batik.transcoder.image.PNGTranscoder;
+
+/**
+ * Test class for verifying correct handling of SVG gradient stops without an 'offset' attribute.
+ * *
+ * @version $Id$
+ */
+public class AbstractSVGGradietElementBridgeOffsetAttributeTest  extends AbstractTest  {
+
+    public static final String ERROR_PNG_RENDERING_NOT_ACCURATE
+    = "SVGRenderingAccuracyTest.error.svg.rendering.not.accurate";
+
+    public TestReport runImpl() throws Exception{
+    String svgContent = "<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' width='100' height='100'>" +
+                            "<defs>" +
+                            "<linearGradient id='gradient'>" +
+                            "<stop stop-color='red'/>" + // No offset attribute
+                            "<stop offset='100%' stop-color='blue'/>" +
+                            "</linearGradient>" +
+                            "</defs>" +
+                            "<rect width='100%' height='100%' fill='url(#gradient)' />" +
+                            "</svg>";
+
+        // Set up the PNGTranscoder and input/output streams
+        PNGTranscoder transcoder = new PNGTranscoder();
+        TranscoderInput input = new TranscoderInput(new ByteArrayInputStream(svgContent.getBytes()));
+        ByteArrayOutputStream ostream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+        TranscoderOutput output = new TranscoderOutput(ostream);
+
+        // Perform the transcoding process
+        transcoder.transcode(input, output);
+
+        // Verify the output is not null, indicating transcoding occurred without exception
+        if(ostream.toByteArray() == null){
+            error(ERROR_PNG_RENDERING_NOT_ACCURATE);
+        }
+
+        System.out.println("Test completed successfully - SVG without explicit stop offset was handled.");
+        return reportSuccess();
+        }
+}