  We propose a treatment of $\gamma^5$ in dimensional regularization which is
based on an algebraically consistent extension of the Breitenlohner-Maison-'t
Hooft-Veltman (BMHV) scheme; we define the corresponding minimal
renormalization scheme and show its equivalence with a non-minimal BMHV scheme.
The restoration of the chiral Ward identities requires the introduction of
considerably fewer finite counterterms than in the BMHV scheme. This scheme is
the same as the minimal naive dimensional renormalization in the case of
diagrams not involving fermionic traces with an odd number of $\gamma^5$, but
unlike the latter it is a consistent scheme. As a simple example we apply our
minimal subtraction scheme to the Yukawa model at two loops in presence of
external gauge fields.
