diff --git a/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidator.java b/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidator.java
index 8dbe102cd8..eeee8efdaf 100644
--- a/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidator.java
+++ b/config/src/main/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidator.java
@@ -172,6 +172,10 @@ public class DefaultFilterChainValidator implements FilterChainProxy.FilterChain
             logger.warn("Anonymous access to the login page doesn't appear to be enabled. This is almost certainly " +
                     "an error. Please check your configuration allows unauthenticated access to the configured " +
                     "login page. (Simulated access was rejected: " + e + ")");
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            // May happen legitimately if a filter-chain request matcher requires more request data than that provided
+            // by the dummy request used when creating the filter invocation. See SEC-1878
+            logger.info("Unable to check access to the login page to determine if anonymous access is allowed. This might be an error, but can happen under normal circumstances.", e);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidatorTests.java b/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidatorTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1a05ad22e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/src/test/java/org/springframework/security/config/http/DefaultFilterChainValidatorTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on
+ * an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.security.config.http;
+
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.Matchers.anyObject;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.doThrow;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+import java.util.Collection;
+
+import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.internal.util.reflection.Whitebox;
+import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
+import org.springframework.security.access.AccessDecisionManager;
+import org.springframework.security.core.Authentication;
+import org.springframework.security.web.AuthenticationEntryPoint;
+import org.springframework.security.web.DefaultSecurityFilterChain;
+import org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy;
+import org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter;
+import org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.DefaultFilterInvocationSecurityMetadataSource;
+import org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.FilterSecurityInterceptor;
+import org.springframework.security.web.authentication.AnonymousAuthenticationFilter;
+import org.springframework.security.web.authentication.LoginUrlAuthenticationEntryPoint;
+import org.springframework.security.web.util.AnyRequestMatcher;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Rob Winch
+ */
+@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
+public class DefaultFilterChainValidatorTests {
+    private DefaultFilterChainValidator validator;
+    private FilterChainProxy fcp;
+    @Mock
+    private Log logger;
+    @Mock
+    private DefaultFilterInvocationSecurityMetadataSource metadataSource;
+    @Mock
+    private AccessDecisionManager accessDecisionManager;
+
+    @Before
+    public void setUp() throws Exception {
+        AnonymousAuthenticationFilter aaf = new AnonymousAuthenticationFilter("anonymous");
+        FilterSecurityInterceptor fsi = new FilterSecurityInterceptor();
+        fsi.setAccessDecisionManager(accessDecisionManager);
+        fsi.setSecurityMetadataSource(metadataSource);
+        AuthenticationEntryPoint authenticationEntryPoint = new LoginUrlAuthenticationEntryPoint("/login");
+        ExceptionTranslationFilter etf = new ExceptionTranslationFilter(authenticationEntryPoint);
+        DefaultSecurityFilterChain securityChain = new DefaultSecurityFilterChain(new AnyRequestMatcher(),aaf,etf,fsi);
+        fcp = new FilterChainProxy(securityChain);
+        validator = new DefaultFilterChainValidator();
+        Whitebox.setInternalState(validator, "logger", logger);
+    }
+
+    // SEC-1878
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+    @Test
+    public void validateCheckLoginPageIsntProtectedThrowsIllegalArgumentException() {
+        IllegalArgumentException toBeThrown = new IllegalArgumentException("failed to eval expression");
+        doThrow(toBeThrown).when(accessDecisionManager).decide(any(Authentication.class), anyObject(), any(Collection.class));
+        validator.validate(fcp);
+        verify(logger).info("Unable to check access to the login page to determine if anonymous access is allowed. This might be an error, but can happen under normal circumstances.", toBeThrown);
+    }
+
+}