diff --git a/HISTORY.md b/HISTORY.md
index a4464ea6..91167a4c 100644
--- a/HISTORY.md
+++ b/HISTORY.md
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ Our backwards-compatibility policy can be found [here](https://github.com/python
 
 ## NEXT
 
+- Fix union disambiguation treating a dataclass field that sets only `default_factory` as a required field, so a payload omitting it failed to structure as that class. Such fields are now recognized as having a default, matching attrs `factory` fields.
+  ([#796](https://github.com/python-attrs/cattrs/issues/796))
 - Dict unstructuring hook factories now inherit the converter's `omit_if_default` setting when `_cattrs_omit_if_default` is omitted. Explicit `True` or `False` values and per-attribute overrides retain their precedence.
   ([#238](https://github.com/python-attrs/cattrs/issues/238))
 - Support the [`frozendict`](https://docs.python.org/3.15/builtins/stdtypes.html#frozendict) built-in on Python 3.15+.
diff --git a/src/cattrs/disambiguators.py b/src/cattrs/disambiguators.py
index 451d5768..208bf604 100644
--- a/src/cattrs/disambiguators.py
+++ b/src/cattrs/disambiguators.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 from collections import defaultdict
 from collections.abc import Mapping
-from dataclasses import MISSING
 from functools import reduce
 from operator import or_
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Literal, Union, get_origin
@@ -14,7 +13,6 @@
 from ._compat import (
     NoneType,
     adapted_fields,
-    fields_dict,
     get_args,
     has,
     is_literal,
@@ -150,11 +148,15 @@ def dis_func(data: Mapping[Any, Any]) -> type | None:
             )
             uniq = cl_reqs - other_reqs
 
-            # We want a unique attribute with no default.
-            cl_fields = fields_dict(get_origin(cl) or cl)
+            # We want a unique attribute with no default. Use `adapted_fields`
+            # so dataclass `default_factory` fields are seen as having a
+            # default (their raw `Field.default` is `MISSING`), matching attrs.
+            cl_defaults = {
+                at.name: at.default for at in adapted_fields(get_origin(cl) or cl)
+            }
             for maybe_renamed_attr_name in uniq:
                 orig_name = back_map[maybe_renamed_attr_name]
-                if cl_fields[orig_name].default in (NOTHING, MISSING):
+                if cl_defaults[orig_name] is NOTHING:
                     uniq_attrs_dict[maybe_renamed_attr_name] = cl
                     made_progress = True
                     break
diff --git a/tests/test_disambiguators.py b/tests/test_disambiguators.py
index 66f366d8..37946b65 100644
--- a/tests/test_disambiguators.py
+++ b/tests/test_disambiguators.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 """Tests for auto-disambiguators."""
 
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+from dataclasses import field as dc_field
 from functools import partial
 from itertools import permutations
 from typing import Literal, Union
@@ -482,6 +483,32 @@ class B:
     assert converter.structure({"b": 1}, Union[A, B]) == B(1)
 
 
+def test_dataclasses_default_factory(converter):
+    """A dataclass `default_factory` field is not a required field (#796).
+
+    A raw `dataclasses.Field.default` is `MISSING` when only `default_factory`
+    is set, so such a field used to be treated as required. It should instead
+    be treated like an attrs `factory` field: the class carries no required
+    field and so becomes the disambiguation fallback, rather than the factory
+    field being picked as a unique required key.
+    """
+
+    @dataclass
+    class A:
+        tags: list = dc_field(default_factory=list)
+
+    @define
+    class B:
+        b: int
+
+    # `A` has only a defaulted field, so it is the fallback: a payload without
+    # `b` structures as `A`, honoring the factory default, in either order.
+    for union in (Union[A, B], Union[B, A]):
+        assert converter.structure({}, union) == A()
+        assert converter.structure({"tags": [1]}, union) == A([1])
+        assert converter.structure({"b": 1}, union) == B(1)
+
+
 def test_dataclasses_literals(converter):
     """The default strategy works for dataclasses too."""