diff --git a/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoader.java b/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoader.java
index 27c89eb3b..39d191a56 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoader.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoader.java
@@ -252,7 +252,8 @@ private void registerSecretLeaseContainer(ConfigurableBootstrapContext bootstrap
 			VaultConfiguration vaultConfiguration) {
 		registerIfAbsent(bootstrap, "secretLeaseContainer", SecretLeaseContainer.class, ctx -> {
 
-			SessionManager sessionManager = ctx.get(SessionManager.class);
+			SessionManager sessionManager = ctx.isRegistered(SessionManager.class) ? ctx.get(SessionManager.class)
+					: null;
 			SecretLeaseContainer container = vaultConfiguration.createSecretLeaseContainer(ctx.get(VaultTemplate.class),
 					() -> ctx.get(TaskSchedulerWrapper.class).getTaskScheduler(), sessionManager);
 
diff --git a/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfiguration.java b/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfiguration.java
index b5c2bf6a8..4d79a8c03 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfiguration.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.springframework.cloud.client.ServiceInstance;
 import org.springframework.cloud.vault.config.VaultProperties.Ssl;
 import org.springframework.http.client.ClientHttpRequestFactory;
+import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.scheduling.TaskScheduler;
 import org.springframework.scheduling.concurrent.ThreadPoolTaskScheduler;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
@@ -182,7 +183,7 @@ SessionManager createSessionManager(ClientAuthentication clientAuthentication,
 	}
 
 	SecretLeaseContainer createSecretLeaseContainer(VaultOperations vaultOperations,
-			Supplier<TaskScheduler> taskSchedulerSupplier, SessionManager sessionManager) {
+			Supplier<TaskScheduler> taskSchedulerSupplier, @Nullable SessionManager sessionManager) {
 
 		VaultProperties.ConfigLifecycle lifecycle = this.vaultProperties.getConfig().getLifecycle();
 
diff --git a/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoaderIntegrationTests.java b/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoaderIntegrationTests.java
index 75f2596e3..94f1a65ab 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoaderIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-vault-config/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/vault/config/VaultConfigDataLoaderIntegrationTests.java
@@ -63,6 +63,21 @@ public void shouldConsiderProfiles() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void shouldConsiderNoAuthentication() {
+
+		SpringApplication application = new SpringApplication(Config.class);
+		application.setWebApplicationType(WebApplicationType.NONE);
+
+		try (ConfigurableApplicationContext context = application.run("--spring.application.name=my-config-loader",
+				"--spring.config.import=vault:", "--spring.cloud.vault.authentication=NONE")) {
+
+			// while the Vault startup leads to Status 403 Forbidden [secret/application],
+			// we expect that the application can still boot up.
+			assertThat(context).isNotNull();
+		}
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void vaultLocationEndingWithSlashShouldFail() {