diff --git a/src/editor/open_in_editor.rs b/src/editor/open_in_editor.rs
index 5693f93..2dd6ca8 100644
--- a/src/editor/open_in_editor.rs
+++ b/src/editor/open_in_editor.rs
@@ -4,13 +4,11 @@ use std::io::{Read, Seek, SeekFrom, Write};
 use std::process::Command;
 use tempfile::NamedTempFile;
 use thiserror::Error;
-use tracing::{debug, instrument, trace};
+use tracing::{debug, instrument, trace, warn};
 
 /// Error type returned by `spawn_editor`
 #[derive(Debug, Error)]
 pub enum EditorSpawnError {
-    #[error("$EDITOR environment variable isn't set")]
-    NoEditorEnv,
     #[error("failed to parse out absolute path of editor: {0}")]
     InvalidEditorPath(which::Error),
     #[error("failed to create temporary file for edit buffer: {0}")]
@@ -34,7 +32,10 @@ pub enum EditorSpawnError {
 pub fn spawn_editor(buffer: impl AsRef<str> + Display) -> Result<String, EditorSpawnError> {
     use EditorSpawnError::*;
     trace!("Input buffer: {buffer}");
-    let editor = option_env!("EDITOR").ok_or(NoEditorEnv)?;
+    let editor = option_env!("EDITOR").unwrap_or_else(|| {
+        warn!("EDITOR environment variable isn't set, defaulting to vi");
+        "vi"
+    });
     debug!("$EDITOR is {editor}");
     let editor = which::which(editor).map_err(InvalidEditorPath)?;
     debug!("$EDITOR's full path is {editor:?}");