diff --git a/src/zarr/codecs/pipeline.py b/src/zarr/codecs/pipeline.py
index 6828377f97..1226a04f06 100644
--- a/src/zarr/codecs/pipeline.py
+++ b/src/zarr/codecs/pipeline.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 from zarr.core.common import ChunkCoords, concurrent_map
 from zarr.core.config import config
 from zarr.core.indexing import SelectorTuple, is_scalar, is_total_slice
+from zarr.core.metadata.v2 import _default_fill_value
 from zarr.registry import register_pipeline
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -247,7 +248,17 @@ async def read_batch(
                 if chunk_array is not None:
                     out[out_selection] = chunk_array
                 else:
-                    out[out_selection] = chunk_spec.fill_value
+                    fill_value = chunk_spec.fill_value
+
+                    if fill_value is None:
+                        # Zarr V2 allowed `fill_value` to be null in the metadata.
+                        # Zarr V3 requires it to be set. This has already been
+                        # validated when decoding the metadata, but we support reading
+                        # Zarr V2 data and need to support the case where fill_value
+                        # is None.
+                        fill_value = _default_fill_value(dtype=chunk_spec.dtype)
+
+                    out[out_selection] = fill_value
         else:
             chunk_bytes_batch = await concurrent_map(
                 [
@@ -274,7 +285,10 @@ async def read_batch(
                         tmp = tmp.squeeze(axis=drop_axes)
                     out[out_selection] = tmp
                 else:
-                    out[out_selection] = chunk_spec.fill_value
+                    fill_value = chunk_spec.fill_value
+                    if fill_value is None:
+                        fill_value = _default_fill_value(dtype=chunk_spec.dtype)
+                    out[out_selection] = fill_value
 
     def _merge_chunk_array(
         self,
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/array.py b/src/zarr/core/array.py
index 9f5591ce1e..60508916c6 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/array.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/array.py
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ async def _create_v2(
             chunks=chunks,
             order=order,
             dimension_separator=dimension_separator,
-            fill_value=0 if fill_value is None else fill_value,
+            fill_value=fill_value,
             compressor=compressor,
             filters=filters,
             attributes=attributes,
diff --git a/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py b/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py
index ec44673f9d..6d8f2a8ab1 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/metadata/v2.py
@@ -300,3 +300,24 @@ def parse_fill_value(fill_value: object, dtype: np.dtype[Any]) -> Any:
             raise ValueError(msg) from e
 
     return fill_value
+
+
+def _default_fill_value(dtype: np.dtype[Any]) -> Any:
+    """
+    Get the default fill value for a type.
+
+    Notes
+    -----
+    This differs from :func:`parse_fill_value`, which parses a fill value
+    stored in the Array metadata into an in-memory value. This only gives
+    the default fill value for some type.
+
+    This is useful for reading Zarr V2 arrays, which allow the fill
+    value to be unspecified.
+    """
+    if dtype.kind == "S":
+        return b""
+    elif dtype.kind == "U":
+        return ""
+    else:
+        return dtype.type(0)
diff --git a/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py b/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py
index 234454e289..8494d35939 100644
--- a/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py
+++ b/src/zarr/testing/strategies.py
@@ -140,7 +140,8 @@ def arrays(
     )
 
     assert isinstance(a, Array)
-    assert a.fill_value is not None
+    if a.metadata.zarr_format == 3:
+        assert a.fill_value is not None
     assert isinstance(root[array_path], Array)
     assert nparray.shape == a.shape
     assert chunks == a.chunks
diff --git a/tests/v3/test_metadata/test_v2.py b/tests/v3/test_metadata/test_v2.py
index 4cd222d812..bf6e246668 100644
--- a/tests/v3/test_metadata/test_v2.py
+++ b/tests/v3/test_metadata/test_v2.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def test_parse_zarr_format_invalid(data: Any) -> None:
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("attributes", [None, {"foo": "bar"}])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("filters", [None, (), (numcodecs.GZip(),)])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("compressor", [None, numcodecs.GZip()])
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("fill_value", [0, 1])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("fill_value", [None, 0, 1])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("order", ["C", "F"])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dimension_separator", [".", "/", None])
 def test_metadata_to_dict(
diff --git a/tests/v3/test_v2.py b/tests/v3/test_v2.py
index f488782d78..d981fbc893 100644
--- a/tests/v3/test_v2.py
+++ b/tests/v3/test_v2.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import json
 from collections.abc import Iterator
+from typing import Any
 
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
@@ -35,6 +36,27 @@ def test_simple(store: StorePath) -> None:
     assert np.array_equal(data, a[:, :])
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("dtype", "fill_value"),
+    [
+        ("bool", False),
+        ("int64", 0),
+        ("float64", 0.0),
+        ("|S1", b""),
+        ("|U1", ""),
+        ("object", 0),
+        (str, ""),
+    ],
+)
+def test_implicit_fill_value(store: StorePath, dtype: str, fill_value: Any) -> None:
+    arr = zarr.open_array(store=store, shape=(4,), fill_value=None, zarr_format=2, dtype=dtype)
+    assert arr.metadata.fill_value is None
+    assert arr.metadata.to_dict()["fill_value"] is None
+    result = arr[:]
+    expected = np.full(arr.shape, fill_value, dtype=dtype)
+    np.testing.assert_array_equal(result, expected)
+
+
 def test_codec_pipeline() -> None:
     # https://github.com/zarr-developers/zarr-python/issues/2243
     store = MemoryStore(mode="w")