diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5f1e3ff7335..92431bb811d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 ### Fixes
 - Projects created using `dbt init` now have the correct `seeds` directory created (instead of `data`) ([#4588](https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core/issues/4588), [#4599](https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core/pull/4589))
+- Don't require a profile for dbt deps and clean commands ([#4554](https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core/issues/4554), [#4610](https://github.com/dbt-labs/dbt-core/pull/4610))
 
 ## dbt-core 1.0.1 (January 03, 2022)
 
diff --git a/core/dbt/config/runtime.py b/core/dbt/config/runtime.py
index 40f12a1098e..61a17605d7e 100644
--- a/core/dbt/config/runtime.py
+++ b/core/dbt/config/runtime.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import itertools
 import os
 from copy import deepcopy
-from dataclasses import dataclass, fields
+from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import (
     Dict, Any, Optional, Mapping, Iterator, Iterable, Tuple, List, MutableSet,
@@ -13,20 +13,17 @@
 from .renderer import DbtProjectYamlRenderer, ProfileRenderer
 from .utils import parse_cli_vars
 from dbt import flags
-from dbt import tracking
 from dbt.adapters.factory import get_relation_class_by_name, get_include_paths
 from dbt.helper_types import FQNPath, PathSet
+from dbt.config.profile import read_user_config
 from dbt.contracts.connection import AdapterRequiredConfig, Credentials
 from dbt.contracts.graph.manifest import ManifestMetadata
 from dbt.contracts.relation import ComponentName
-from dbt.events.types import ProfileLoadError, ProfileNotFound
-from dbt.events.functions import fire_event
 from dbt.ui import warning_tag
 
 from dbt.contracts.project import Configuration, UserConfig
 from dbt.exceptions import (
     RuntimeException,
-    DbtProfileError,
     DbtProjectError,
     validator_error_message,
     warn_or_error,
@@ -191,6 +188,7 @@ def _get_rendered_profile(
         profile_renderer: ProfileRenderer,
         profile_name: Optional[str],
     ) -> Profile:
+
         return Profile.render_from_args(
             args, profile_renderer, profile_name
         )
@@ -412,21 +410,12 @@ def _connection_keys(self):
         return ()
 
 
-class UnsetConfig(UserConfig):
-    def __getattribute__(self, name):
-        if name in {f.name for f in fields(UserConfig)}:
-            raise AttributeError(
-                f"'UnsetConfig' object has no attribute {name}"
-            )
-
-    def __post_serialize__(self, dct):
-        return {}
-
-
+# This is used by UnsetProfileConfig, for commands which do
+# not require a profile, i.e. dbt deps and clean
 class UnsetProfile(Profile):
     def __init__(self):
         self.credentials = UnsetCredentials()
-        self.user_config = UnsetConfig()
+        self.user_config = UserConfig()  # This will be read in _get_rendered_profile
         self.profile_name = ''
         self.target_name = ''
         self.threads = -1
@@ -443,6 +432,8 @@ def __getattribute__(self, name):
         return Profile.__getattribute__(self, name)
 
 
+# This class is used by the dbt deps and clean commands, because they don't
+# require a functioning profile.
 @dataclass
 class UnsetProfileConfig(RuntimeConfig):
     """This class acts a lot _like_ a RuntimeConfig, except if your profile is
@@ -525,7 +516,7 @@ def from_parts(
             profile_env_vars=profile.profile_env_vars,
             profile_name='',
             target_name='',
-            user_config=UnsetConfig(),
+            user_config=UserConfig(),
             threads=getattr(args, 'threads', 1),
             credentials=UnsetCredentials(),
             args=args,
@@ -540,21 +531,12 @@ def _get_rendered_profile(
         profile_renderer: ProfileRenderer,
         profile_name: Optional[str],
     ) -> Profile:
-        try:
-            profile = Profile.render_from_args(
-                args, profile_renderer, profile_name
-            )
-        except (DbtProjectError, DbtProfileError) as exc:
-            selected_profile_name = Profile.pick_profile_name(
-                args_profile_name=getattr(args, 'profile', None),
-                project_profile_name=profile_name
-            )
-            fire_event(ProfileLoadError(exc=exc))
-            fire_event(ProfileNotFound(profile_name=selected_profile_name))
-            # return the poisoned form
-            profile = UnsetProfile()
-            # disable anonymous usage statistics
-            tracking.disable_tracking()
+
+        profile = UnsetProfile()
+        # The profile (for warehouse connection) is not needed, but we want
+        # to get the UserConfig, which is also in profiles.yml
+        user_config = read_user_config(flags.PROFILES_DIR)
+        profile.user_config = user_config
         return profile
 
     @classmethod
@@ -569,9 +551,6 @@ def from_args(cls: Type[RuntimeConfig], args: Any) -> 'RuntimeConfig':
         :raises ValidationException: If the cli variables are invalid.
         """
         project, profile = cls.collect_parts(args)
-        if not isinstance(profile, UnsetProfile):
-            # if it's a real profile, return a real config
-            cls = RuntimeConfig
 
         return cls.from_parts(
             project=project,
diff --git a/core/dbt/events/types.py b/core/dbt/events/types.py
index 7844ced6eec..adf7bf0342e 100644
--- a/core/dbt/events/types.py
+++ b/core/dbt/events/types.py
@@ -795,24 +795,6 @@ def message(self) -> str:
         return f"target not specified in profile '{self.profile_name}', using '{self.target_name}'"
 
 
-@dataclass
-class ProfileLoadError(ShowException, DebugLevel):
-    exc: Exception
-    code: str = "A006"
-
-    def message(self) -> str:
-        return f"Profile not loaded due to error: {self.exc}"
-
-
-@dataclass
-class ProfileNotFound(InfoLevel):
-    profile_name: Optional[str]
-    code: str = "A007"
-
-    def message(self) -> str:
-        return f'No profile "{self.profile_name}" found, continuing with no target'
-
-
 @dataclass
 class InvalidVarsYAML(ErrorLevel):
     code: str = "A008"
@@ -2528,8 +2510,6 @@ def message(self) -> str:
     TimingInfoCollected()
     MergedFromState(nbr_merged=0, sample=[])
     MissingProfileTarget(profile_name='', target_name='')
-    ProfileLoadError(exc=Exception(''))
-    ProfileNotFound(profile_name='')
     InvalidVarsYAML()
     GenericTestFileParse(path='')
     MacroFileParse(path='')
diff --git a/test/integration/006_simple_dependency_tests/test_simple_dependency.py b/test/integration/006_simple_dependency_tests/test_simple_dependency.py
index 09bc6703e3b..efc22e3da2b 100644
--- a/test/integration/006_simple_dependency_tests/test_simple_dependency.py
+++ b/test/integration/006_simple_dependency_tests/test_simple_dependency.py
@@ -246,3 +246,48 @@ def run_clean(self):
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
             result = self.run_dbt(["clean", "--profiles-dir", tmpdir])
         return result
+
+class TestSimpleDependencyBadProfile(DBTIntegrationTest):
+
+    @property
+    def schema(self):
+        return "simple_dependency_006"
+
+    @property
+    def models(self):
+        return "models"
+
+    def postgres_profile(self):
+        # Need to set the environment variable here initially because
+        # the unittest setup does a load_config.
+        os.environ['PROFILE_TEST_HOST'] = self.database_host
+        return {
+            'config': {
+                'send_anonymous_usage_stats': False
+            },
+            'test': {
+                'outputs': {
+                    'default2': {
+                        'type': 'postgres',
+                        'threads': 4,
+                        'host': "{{ env_var('PROFILE_TEST_HOST') }}",
+                        'port': 5432,
+                        'user': 'root',
+                        'pass': 'password',
+                        'dbname': 'dbt',
+                        'schema': self.unique_schema()
+                    },
+                },
+                'target': 'default2'
+            }
+        }
+
+    @use_profile('postgres')
+    def test_postgres_deps_bad_profile(self):
+        del os.environ['PROFILE_TEST_HOST']
+        self.run_dbt(["deps"])
+
+    @use_profile('postgres')
+    def test_postgres_clean_bad_profile(self):
+        del os.environ['PROFILE_TEST_HOST']
+        self.run_dbt(["clean"])
diff --git a/test/unit/test_events.py b/test/unit/test_events.py
index 5c5ff574d9d..56d9701e95f 100644
--- a/test/unit/test_events.py
+++ b/test/unit/test_events.py
@@ -233,8 +233,6 @@ def MockNode():
     TimingInfoCollected(),
     MergedFromState(nbr_merged=0, sample=[]),
     MissingProfileTarget(profile_name='', target_name=''),
-    ProfileLoadError(exc=Exception('')),
-    ProfileNotFound(profile_name=''),
     InvalidVarsYAML(),
     GenericTestFileParse(path=''),
     MacroFileParse(path=''),