diff --git a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/DefaultDockerClientConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/DefaultDockerClientConfig.java
index 8517d89a9..a6854af2d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/DefaultDockerClientConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/DefaultDockerClientConfig.java
@@ -238,7 +238,11 @@ public String getDockerConfigPath() {
     public DockerConfigFile getDockerConfig() {
         if (dockerConfig == null) {
             try {
-                dockerConfig = DockerConfigFile.loadConfig(new File(getDockerConfigPath()));
+                if (getDockerConfigPath() != null) {
+                    dockerConfig = DockerConfigFile.loadConfig(new File(getDockerConfigPath()));
+                } else {
+                    dockerConfig = new DockerConfigFile();
+                }
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 throw new DockerClientException("Failed to parse docker configuration file", e);
             }