diff --git a/bandit/core/config.py b/bandit/core/config.py
index 9ab223d1f..dbc68fb7d 100644
--- a/bandit/core/config.py
+++ b/bandit/core/config.py
@@ -52,7 +52,9 @@ def __init__(self, config_file=None):
 
                 try:
                     with f:
-                        self._config = tomllib.load(f)["tool"]["bandit"]
+                        self._config = (
+                            tomllib.load(f).get("tool", {}).get("bandit", {})
+                        )
                 except tomllib.TOMLDecodeError as err:
                     LOG.error(err)
                     raise utils.ConfigError("Error parsing file.", config_file)