diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 09e166f5..a5266518 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ Changelog follow https://keepachangelog.com/ format.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+*   `epath`:
+    *   [fsspec](https://filesystem-spec.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) is now the
+        default backend even if TensorFlow is installed. This means that you
+        need to install [gcsfs](https://gcsfs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/) or
+        [s3fs](https://github.com/s3fs-fuse/s3fs-fuse) to read from respectively
+        GCS or S3.
 *   `epy`:
     *   Add `epy.is_test` to check whether we're running in a test environment.
     *   Add `epy.typing.Json`.
diff --git a/etils/epath/gpath.py b/etils/epath/gpath.py
index 02a8e869..172d1b5d 100644
--- a/etils/epath/gpath.py
+++ b/etils/epath/gpath.py
@@ -110,11 +110,6 @@ def _uri_scheme(self) -> Optional[str]:
   def _backend(self) -> backend_lib.Backend:
     try:
       backend = _PREFIX_TO_BACKEND[self._uri_scheme]
-      # Choose tf_backend if tf is installed. We don't use FSSpec by default
-      # for retro-compatibility, because needed dependencies (gcsfs or s3fs)
-      # may not be installed. fsspec_backend was indeed introduced later.
-      if _is_tf_installed() and self._uri_scheme is not None:
-        return backend_lib.tf_backend
       return backend
     except KeyError:
       supported = ', '.join(f'`{k}://`' for k in _PREFIX_TO_BACKEND)