diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/orm/jpa/DataSourceInitializedPublisher.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/orm/jpa/DataSourceInitializedPublisher.java
index 0444565f6ff..9f89a22acd4 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/orm/jpa/DataSourceInitializedPublisher.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/orm/jpa/DataSourceInitializedPublisher.java
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ class DataSourceInitializedPublisher implements BeanPostProcessor {
 	}
 
 	private boolean isInitializingDatabase() {
+		if (this.properties == null) {
+			return true; // better safe than sorry
+		}
 		Map<String, String> hibernate = this.properties
 				.getHibernateProperties(this.dataSource);
 		if (hibernate.containsKey("hibernate.hbm2ddl.auto")) {