diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index f157660..942882a 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -137,13 +137,16 @@ const cloneDeep = require('lodash.clonedeep')
  *  }
  *
  * @param {object} options options to load Config
- * @param {boolean} options.allowNoImpl do not throw if there is no implementation
- * @param {boolean} options.ignoreAioConfig do not load .aio config via aio-lib-core-config, which is loaded synchronously and blocks the main thread.
+ * @param {boolean} [options.allowNoImpl=false] do not throw if there is no implementation
+ * @param {boolean} [options.ignoreAioConfig=false] do not load .aio config via aio-lib-core-config, which is loaded synchronously and blocks the main thread.
+ * @param {boolean} [options.validateAppConfig=true] set to false to not validate
  * @returns {object} the config
  */
 async function load (options = {}) {
   const allowNoImpl = options.allowNoImpl === undefined ? false : options.allowNoImpl
   const ignoreAioConfig = options.ignoreAioConfig === undefined ? false : options.ignoreAioConfig
+  const validateAppConfig = options.validateAppConfig === undefined ? true : options.validateAppConfig
+
   // *NOTE* it would be nice to support an appFolder option to load config from a different folder.
   // However, this requires to update aio-lib-core-config to support loading
   // from a different folder aswell (or enforcing ignore).
@@ -164,7 +167,9 @@ async function load (options = {}) {
     // this will resolve $include directives and output the app config into a single object
     // paths config values in $included files will be rewritten
     const appConfigWithIndex = await coalesce(defaults.USER_CONFIG_FILE, { absolutePaths: true })
-    await validate(appConfigWithIndex.config, { throws: true })
+    if (validateAppConfig) {
+      await validate(appConfigWithIndex.config, { throws: true })
+    }
     const mergedAppConfig = await mergeLegacyAppConfig(appConfigWithIndex, legacyAppConfigWithIndex)
 
     appConfig = mergedAppConfig.config
@@ -589,7 +594,13 @@ async function buildSingleConfig (configName, singleUserConfig, commonConfig, in
   // Let's search the config path that defines a key in the same config object level as 'web' or
   // 'action'
   const otherKeyInObject = Object.keys(singleUserConfig)[0]
-  const configFilePath = includeIndex[`${fullKeyPrefix}.${otherKeyInObject}`].file
+  let configFilePath
+  if (otherKeyInObject === undefined) {
+    // corner case if config is empty e.g. application: {}
+    configFilePath = includeIndex[`${fullKeyPrefix}`].file
+  } else {
+    configFilePath = includeIndex[`${fullKeyPrefix}.${otherKeyInObject}`].file
+  }
 
   const defaultActionPath = resolveToRoot('actions/', configFilePath)
   const defaultWebPath = resolveToRoot('web-src/', configFilePath)
diff --git a/test/index.test.js b/test/index.test.js
index 0a09e4f..6a10fc1 100644
--- a/test/index.test.js
+++ b/test/index.test.js
@@ -273,6 +273,20 @@ extensions:
     await expect(appConfig.load({})).rejects.toThrow('must have required property \'packages\'')
   })
 
+  test('app config with empty application implementation', async () => {
+    global.loadFixtureApp('app')
+    global.fakeFileSystem.addJson({
+      '/package.json': '{}',
+      'app.config.yaml':
+`
+    application: {}
+`
+    })
+    config = await appConfig.load()
+    expect(config.all.application).toBeDefined()
+    expect(config.implements).toEqual(['application'])
+  })
+
   // options
   test('standalone app config - ignoreAioConfig=true', async () => {
     global.loadFixtureApp('app')
@@ -281,6 +295,41 @@ extensions:
     expect(config).toEqual(mockConfig)
   })
 
+  test('invalid app config with validateAppConfig=true', async () => {
+    global.loadFixtureApp('app')
+    global.fakeFileSystem.addJson({
+      '/package.json': '{}',
+      'app.config.yaml':
+`
+    application: {
+      web: { notallowed: true }
+    }
+`
+    })
+    await expect(appConfig.load({ validateAppConfig: true })).rejects.toThrow('Missing or invalid keys in app.config.yaml')
+  })
+
+  test('invalid app config with validateAppConfig=false', async () => {
+    global.loadFixtureApp('app')
+    global.fakeFileSystem.addJson({
+      '/package.json': '{}',
+      'app.config.yaml':
+`
+    application: {
+      web: { notallowed: true }
+    }
+`
+    })
+    config = await appConfig.load({ validateAppConfig: false })
+    // the notallowed config is not picked up
+    expect(config.all.application.web).toEqual({
+      distDev: winCompat('/dist/application/web-dev'),
+      distProd: winCompat('/dist/application/web-prod'),
+      injectedConfig: winCompat('/web-src/src/config.json'),
+      src: winCompat('/web-src')
+    })
+  })
+
   test('no implementation - allowNoImpl=false', async () => {
     global.fakeFileSystem.addJson({ '/package.json': '{}' })
     await expect(appConfig.load({})).rejects.toThrow('Couldn\'t find configuration')