diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/keycloak/representations/userprofile/config/UPConfig.java b/core/src/main/java/org/keycloak/representations/userprofile/config/UPConfig.java
index 60639dc3c3..f417bf23de 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/keycloak/representations/userprofile/config/UPConfig.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/keycloak/representations/userprofile/config/UPConfig.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonIgnore;
 
 /**
  * Configuration of the User Profile for one realm.
- * 
+ *
  * @author Vlastimil Elias <velias@redhat.com>
  *
  */
diff --git a/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/DeclarativeUserProfileProvider.java b/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/DeclarativeUserProfileProvider.java
index 60b60f8864..f40cd81a52 100644
--- a/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/DeclarativeUserProfileProvider.java
+++ b/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/DeclarativeUserProfileProvider.java
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ public class DeclarativeUserProfileProvider implements UserProfileProvider {
 
     /**
      * Method used for predicate which returns true if any of the configuredScopes is requested in current auth flow.
-     * 
+     *
      * @param context to get current auth flow from
      * @param configuredScopes to be evaluated
      * @return
@@ -248,13 +248,13 @@ public class DeclarativeUserProfileProvider implements UserProfileProvider {
     protected UserProfileMetadata decorateUserProfileForCache(UserProfileMetadata decoratedMetadata, UPConfig parsedConfig) {
         UserProfileContext context = decoratedMetadata.getContext();
 
-        if (parsedConfig == null) {
+        if (parsedConfig == null || parsedConfig.getAttributes() == null) {
             return decoratedMetadata;
         }
 
         Map<String, UPGroup> groupsByName = asHashMap(parsedConfig.getGroups());
         int guiOrder = 0;
-        
+
         for (UPAttribute attrConfig : parsedConfig.getAttributes()) {
             String attributeName = attrConfig.getName();
 
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ public class DeclarativeUserProfileProvider implements UserProfileProvider {
     private Map<String, UPGroup> asHashMap(List<UPGroup> groups) {
         return groups.stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(g -> g.getName(), g -> g));
     }
-    
+
     private AttributeGroupMetadata toAttributeGroupMeta(UPGroup group) {
         if (group == null) {
             return null;
diff --git a/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/config/UPConfigUtils.java b/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/config/UPConfigUtils.java
index 3c318c10ea..d91dd3f6c2 100644
--- a/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/config/UPConfigUtils.java
+++ b/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/userprofile/config/UPConfigUtils.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ import org.keycloak.validate.Validators;
 
 /**
  * Utility methods to work with User Profile Configurations
- * 
+ *
  * @author Vlastimil Elias <velias@redhat.com>
  *
  */
@@ -112,13 +112,13 @@ public class UPConfigUtils {
         errors.addAll(validateAttributeGroups(config));
         return errors;
     }
-    
+
     private static List<String> validateAttributeGroups(UPConfig config) {
         long groupsWithoutName = config.getGroups().stream().filter(g -> g.getName() == null).collect(Collectors.counting());
-        
+
         if (groupsWithoutName > 0) {
             String errorMessage = "Name is mandatory for groups, found " + groupsWithoutName + " group(s) without name.";
-            return Collections.singletonList(errorMessage);            
+            return Collections.singletonList(errorMessage);
         }
         return Collections.emptyList();
     }
@@ -128,13 +128,11 @@ public class UPConfigUtils {
         Set<String> groups = config.getGroups().stream()
                 .map(g -> g.getName())
                 .collect(Collectors.toSet());
-        
+
         if (config.getAttributes() != null) {
             Set<String> attNamesCache = new HashSet<>();
             config.getAttributes().forEach((attribute) -> validateAttribute(session, attribute, groups, errors, attNamesCache));
             errors.addAll(validateRootAttributes(config));
-        } else {
-            errors.add("UserProfile configuration without 'attributes' section is not allowed");
         }
 
         return errors;
@@ -200,13 +198,13 @@ public class UPConfigUtils {
         if (attributeConfig.getSelector() != null) {
             validateScopes(attributeConfig.getSelector().getScopes(), "selector.scopes", attributeName, errors, session);
         }
-        
+
         if (attributeConfig.getGroup() != null) {
             if (!groups.contains(attributeConfig.getGroup())) {
                 errors.add("Attribute '" + attributeName + "' references unknown group '" + attributeConfig.getGroup() + "'");
             }
         }
-        
+
         if (attributeConfig.getAnnotations()!=null) {
             validateAnnotations(attributeConfig.getAnnotations(), errors, attributeName);
         }
diff --git a/testsuite/integration-arquillian/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/testsuite/user/profile/UserProfileTest.java b/testsuite/integration-arquillian/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/testsuite/user/profile/UserProfileTest.java
index a035aead53..f01783d761 100644
--- a/testsuite/integration-arquillian/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/testsuite/user/profile/UserProfileTest.java
+++ b/testsuite/integration-arquillian/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/testsuite/user/profile/UserProfileTest.java
@@ -1315,6 +1315,39 @@ public class UserProfileTest extends AbstractUserProfileTest {
         profile.validate();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testNullAttributesInConfig() {
+        getTestingClient().server(TEST_REALM_NAME).run((RunOnServer) UserProfileTest::testNullAttributesInConfig);
+    }
+
+    private static void testNullAttributesInConfig(KeycloakSession session) {
+        UserProfileProvider provider = getUserProfileProvider(session);
+        UPConfig config = UPConfigUtils.parseSystemDefaultConfig();
+        config.setAttributes(null);
+        config.setUnmanagedAttributePolicy(UnmanagedAttributePolicy.ENABLED);
+
+        provider.setConfiguration(config);
+
+        Map<String, Object> attributes = new HashMap<>();
+
+        attributes.put(UserModel.USERNAME, "user");
+        attributes.put(UserModel.FIRST_NAME, "John");
+        attributes.put(UserModel.LAST_NAME, "Doe");
+        attributes.put(UserModel.EMAIL, org.keycloak.models.utils.KeycloakModelUtils.generateId() + "@keycloak.org");
+
+        UserProfile profile = provider.create(UserProfileContext.USER_API, attributes);
+
+        profile.validate();
+
+        config.setAttributes(Collections.emptyList());
+        try {
+            provider.setConfiguration(config);
+            Assert.fail("Expected to fail as we are trying to remove required attributes email and username");
+        } catch (ComponentValidationException cve) {
+            //ignore
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testCustomAttributeOptional() {
         getTestingClient().server(TEST_REALM_NAME).run((RunOnServer) UserProfileTest::testCustomAttributeOptional);