diff --git a/documentation/src/docs/asciidoc/release-notes/release-notes-5.5.2.adoc b/documentation/src/docs/asciidoc/release-notes/release-notes-5.5.2.adoc
index 75a0768deed..d903fca3f35 100644
--- a/documentation/src/docs/asciidoc/release-notes/release-notes-5.5.2.adoc
+++ b/documentation/src/docs/asciidoc/release-notes/release-notes-5.5.2.adoc
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ No changes.
 
 ==== Bug Fixes
 
-* ❓
+* The `JupiterTestEngine` no longer crashes without executing any tests if JUnit 4 is on
+  the classpath but Hamcrest is not. Specifically, initialization of the
+  `OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector` class no longer fails if the
+  `org.junit.internal.AssumptionViolatedException` class cannot be loaded from the
+  classpath due to a missing Hamcrest dependency.
 
 
 [[release-notes-5.5.2-junit-vintage]]
diff --git a/junit-jupiter-engine/src/main/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.java b/junit-jupiter-engine/src/main/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.java
index 8a33d86a630..419e5e2134a 100644
--- a/junit-jupiter-engine/src/main/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.java
+++ b/junit-jupiter-engine/src/main/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.java
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 
+import org.junit.platform.commons.util.BlacklistedExceptions;
 import org.junit.platform.commons.util.ReflectionUtils;
 import org.junit.platform.engine.support.hierarchical.ThrowableCollector;
 import org.opentest4j.TestAbortedException;
@@ -37,10 +38,16 @@ private static Predicate<? super Throwable> createAbortedExecutionPredicate() {
 		Predicate<Throwable> otaPredicate = TestAbortedException.class::isInstance;
 
 		// Additionally support JUnit 4's AssumptionViolatedException?
-		Class<?> clazz = ReflectionUtils.tryToLoadClass(
-			"org.junit.internal.AssumptionViolatedException").toOptional().orElse(null);
-		if (clazz != null) {
-			return otaPredicate.or(clazz::isInstance);
+		try {
+			Class<?> clazz = ReflectionUtils.tryToLoadClass("org.junit.internal.AssumptionViolatedException").get();
+			if (clazz != null) {
+				return otaPredicate.or(clazz::isInstance);
+			}
+		}
+		catch (Throwable throwable) {
+			BlacklistedExceptions.rethrowIfBlacklisted(throwable);
+			// Otherwise ignore it since it's likely a ClassNotFoundException,
+			// NoClassDefFoundError, or similar.
 		}
 
 		// Else just OTA's TestAbortedException
diff --git a/junit-jupiter-engine/src/test/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollectorTests.java b/junit-jupiter-engine/src/test/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollectorTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..04b991f3325
--- /dev/null
+++ b/junit-jupiter-engine/src/test/java/org/junit/jupiter/engine/support/OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollectorTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015-2019 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials are
+ * made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v2.0 which
+ * accompanies this distribution and is available at
+ *
+ * https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v20.html
+ */
+
+package org.junit.jupiter.engine.support;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+
+import java.net.URL;
+import java.net.URLClassLoader;
+
+import org.junit.internal.AssumptionViolatedException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.platform.commons.util.ReflectionUtils;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector}.
+ *
+ * @since 5.6
+ */
+class OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollectorTests {
+
+	@Test
+	void simulateHamcrestNotInTheClasspath() throws Exception {
+		ClassLoader originalClassLoader = Thread.currentThread().getContextClassLoader();
+		try {
+			HamcrestHidingClassLoader classLoader = new HamcrestHidingClassLoader();
+
+			// We have to set our custom ClassLoader as the TCCL so that
+			// ReflectionUtils uses it (indirectly via ClassLoaderUtils).
+			Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(classLoader);
+
+			// Ensure that our custom ClassLoader actually throws a NoClassDefFoundError
+			// when attempting to load the AssumptionViolatedException class.
+			assertThrows(NoClassDefFoundError.class,
+				() -> ReflectionUtils.tryToLoadClass(AssumptionViolatedException.class.getName()));
+
+			Class<?> clazz = classLoader.loadClass(OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.class.getName());
+			assertNotNull(ReflectionUtils.newInstance(clazz));
+		}
+		finally {
+			Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(originalClassLoader);
+		}
+	}
+
+	private static class HamcrestHidingClassLoader extends URLClassLoader {
+
+		HamcrestHidingClassLoader() {
+			super(new URL[] {
+					OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.class.getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation() },
+				getSystemClassLoader());
+		}
+
+		@Override
+		public Class<?> loadClass(String name) throws ClassNotFoundException {
+
+			// Load a new instance of the OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector class
+			if (name.equals(OpenTest4JAndJUnit4AwareThrowableCollector.class.getName())) {
+				return findClass(name);
+			}
+
+			// Simulate that Hamcrest is not in the classpath when loading AssumptionViolatedException
+			if (name.equals(AssumptionViolatedException.class.getName())) {
+				throw new NoClassDefFoundError("org/hamcrest/SelfDescribing");
+			}
+
+			// Else
+			return super.loadClass(name);
+		}
+
+	}
+
+}