diff --git a/sqlmodel/main.py b/sqlmodel/main.py
index 38c85915aa..1b3cc3030f 100644
--- a/sqlmodel/main.py
+++ b/sqlmodel/main.py
@@ -503,6 +503,28 @@ def __new__(
         **kwargs: Any,
     ) -> Any:
         relationships: Dict[str, RelationshipInfo] = {}
+        backup_base_annotations: Dict[Type[Any], Dict[str, Any]] = {}
+        for base in bases:
+            base_relationships = getattr(base, "__sqlmodel_relationships__", None)
+            if base_relationships:
+                relationships.update(base_relationships)
+                #
+                # Temporarily pluck out `__annotations__` corresponding to relationships from base classes, otherwise these annotations
+                # make their way into `cls.model_fields` as `FieldInfo(..., required=True)`, even when the relationships are declared
+                # optional.  When a model instance is then constructed using `model_validate` and an optional relationship field is not
+                # passed, this leads to an incorrect `pydantic.ValidationError`.
+                #
+                # We can't just clean up `new_cls.model_fields` after `new_cls` is constructed because by this time
+                # Pydantic has created model schema and validation rules, so this won't fix the problem.
+                #
+                base_annotations = getattr(base, "__annotations__", None)
+                if base_annotations:
+                    backup_base_annotations[base] = base_annotations
+                    base.__annotations__ = {
+                        name: typ
+                        for name, typ in base_annotations.items()
+                        if name not in base_relationships
+                    }
         dict_for_pydantic = {}
         original_annotations = get_annotations(class_dict)
         pydantic_annotations = {}
@@ -537,6 +559,9 @@ def __new__(
             key: kwargs[key] for key in kwargs.keys() & allowed_config_kwargs
         }
         new_cls = super().__new__(cls, name, bases, dict_used, **config_kwargs)
+        # Restore base annotations
+        for base, annotations in backup_base_annotations.items():
+            base.__annotations__ = annotations
         new_cls.__annotations__ = {
             **relationship_annotations,
             **pydantic_annotations,
@@ -559,8 +584,9 @@ def get_config(name: str) -> Any:
             # If it was passed by kwargs, ensure it's also set in config
             set_config_value(model=new_cls, parameter="table", value=config_table)
             for k, v in get_model_fields(new_cls).items():
-                col = get_column_from_field(v)
-                setattr(new_cls, k, col)
+                if k not in relationships:
+                    col = get_column_from_field(v)
+                    setattr(new_cls, k, col)
             # Set a config flag to tell FastAPI that this should be read with a field
             # in orm_mode instead of preemptively converting it to a dict.
             # This could be done by reading new_cls.model_config['table'] in FastAPI, but
diff --git a/tests/test_inherit_relationship.py b/tests/test_inherit_relationship.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..132c43432e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_inherit_relationship.py
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+import datetime
+from typing import Optional
+
+import pydantic
+from sqlalchemy import DateTime, func
+from sqlalchemy.orm import declared_attr, relationship
+from sqlmodel import Field, Relationship, Session, SQLModel, create_engine, select
+from sqlmodel._compat import IS_PYDANTIC_V2
+
+
+def test_inherit_relationship(clear_sqlmodel) -> None:
+    def now():
+        return datetime.datetime.now(tz=datetime.timezone.utc)
+
+    class User(SQLModel, table=True):
+        id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)
+        name: str
+
+    class CreatedUpdatedMixin(SQLModel):
+        # Fields in reusable base models must be defined using `sa_type` and `sa_column_kwargs` instead of `sa_column`
+        # https://github.com/tiangolo/sqlmodel/discussions/743
+        #
+        # created_at: datetime.datetime = Field(default_factory=now, sa_column=DateTime(default=now))
+        created_at: datetime.datetime = Field(
+            default_factory=now, sa_type=DateTime, sa_column_kwargs={"default": now}
+        )
+
+        # With Pydantic V2, it is also possible to define `created_by` like this:
+        #
+        #   ```python
+        #   @declared_attr
+        #   def _created_by(cls):
+        #       return relationship(User, foreign_keys=cls.created_by_id)
+        #
+        #   created_by: Optional[User] = Relationship(sa_relationship=_created_by))
+        #   ```
+        #
+        # The difference from Pydantic V1 is that Pydantic V2 plucks attributes with names starting with '_' (but not '__')
+        # from class attributes and stores them separately as instances of `pydantic.ModelPrivateAttr` somewhere in depths of
+        # Pydantic internals.  Under Pydantic V1 this doesn't happen, so SQLAlchemy ends up having two class attributes
+        # (`_created_by` and `created_by`) corresponding to one database attribute, causing a conflict and unreliable behavior.
+        # The approach with a lambda always works because it doesn't produce the second class attribute and thus eliminates
+        # the possibility of a conflict entirely.
+        #
+        created_by_id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, foreign_key="user.id")
+        created_by: Optional[User] = Relationship(
+            sa_relationship=declared_attr(
+                lambda cls: relationship(User, foreign_keys=cls.created_by_id)
+            )
+        )
+
+        updated_at: datetime.datetime = Field(
+            default_factory=now, sa_type=DateTime, sa_column_kwargs={"default": now}
+        )
+        updated_by_id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, foreign_key="user.id")
+        updated_by: Optional[User] = Relationship(
+            sa_relationship=declared_attr(
+                lambda cls: relationship(User, foreign_keys=cls.updated_by_id)
+            )
+        )
+
+    class Asset(CreatedUpdatedMixin, table=True):
+        id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)
+        name: str
+
+    # Demonstrate that the mixin can be applied to more than 1 model
+    class Document(CreatedUpdatedMixin, table=True):
+        id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)
+        name: str
+
+    engine = create_engine("sqlite://")
+
+    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)
+
+    john = User(name="John")
+    jane = User(name="Jane")
+    asset = Asset(name="Test", created_by=john, updated_by=jane)
+    doc = Document(name="Resume", created_by=jane, updated_by=john)
+
+    with Session(engine) as session:
+        session.add(asset)
+        session.add(doc)
+        session.commit()
+
+    with Session(engine) as session:
+        assert session.scalar(select(func.count()).select_from(User)) == 2
+
+        asset = session.exec(select(Asset)).one()
+        assert asset.created_by.name == "John"
+        assert asset.updated_by.name == "Jane"
+
+        doc = session.exec(select(Document)).one()
+        assert doc.created_by.name == "Jane"
+        assert doc.updated_by.name == "John"
+
+
+def test_inherit_relationship_model_validate(clear_sqlmodel) -> None:
+    class User(SQLModel, table=True):
+        id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)
+
+    class Mixin(SQLModel):
+        owner_id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, foreign_key="user.id")
+        owner: Optional[User] = Relationship(
+            sa_relationship=declared_attr(
+                lambda cls: relationship(User, foreign_keys=cls.owner_id)
+            )
+        )
+
+    class Asset(Mixin, table=True):
+        id: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, primary_key=True)
+
+    class AssetCreate(pydantic.BaseModel):
+        pass
+
+    asset_create = AssetCreate()
+
+    engine = create_engine("sqlite://")
+
+    SQLModel.metadata.create_all(engine)
+
+    user = User()
+
+    # Owner must be optional
+    asset = Asset.model_validate(asset_create)
+    with Session(engine) as session:
+        session.add(asset)
+        session.commit()
+        session.refresh(asset)
+        assert asset.id is not None
+        assert asset.owner_id is None
+        assert asset.owner is None
+
+    # When set, owner must be saved
+    #
+    # Under Pydantic V2, relationship fields set it `model_validate` are not saved,
+    # with or without inheritance.  Consider it a known issue.
+    #
+    if IS_PYDANTIC_V2:
+        asset = Asset.model_validate(asset_create, update={"owner": user})
+        with Session(engine) as session:
+            session.add(asset)
+            session.commit()
+            session.refresh(asset)
+            session.refresh(user)
+            assert asset.id is not None
+            assert user.id is not None
+            assert asset.owner_id == user.id
+            assert asset.owner.id == user.id