diff --git a/hibernate-ehcache/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/MissingCacheStrategy.java b/hibernate-ehcache/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/MissingCacheStrategy.java
index b9868e8915..004ca8382d 100644
--- a/hibernate-ehcache/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/MissingCacheStrategy.java
+++ b/hibernate-ehcache/src/main/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/MissingCacheStrategy.java
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ public static MissingCacheStrategy interpretSetting(Object value) {
 
 		if ( StringHelper.isEmpty( externalRepresentation ) ) {
 			// Use the default
-			return MissingCacheStrategy.FAIL;
+			// Default is CREATE_WARN for backward compatibility reasons; we should switch to FAIL at some point.
+			return MissingCacheStrategy.CREATE_WARN;
 		}
 
 		for ( MissingCacheStrategy strategy : values() ) {
diff --git a/hibernate-ehcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/test/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java b/hibernate-ehcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/test/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java
index fcb940c467..fb4d13dad7 100644
--- a/hibernate-ehcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/test/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-ehcache/src/test/java/org/hibernate/cache/ehcache/test/MissingCacheStrategyTest.java
@@ -38,26 +38,22 @@ public class MissingCacheStrategyTest extends BaseUnitTestCase {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testMissingCacheStrategyDefault() {
-		doTestMissingCacheStrategyFail(
+		doTestMissingCacheStrategyCreateWarn(
 				ignored -> { } // default settings
 		);
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	public void testMissingCacheStrategyFail() {
-		doTestMissingCacheStrategyFail(
-				builder -> builder.applySetting( ConfigSettings.MISSING_CACHE_STRATEGY, "fail" )
-		);
-	}
-
-	private void doTestMissingCacheStrategyFail(Consumer<StandardServiceRegistryBuilder> additionalSettings) {
 		/*
 		 * The cache manager is created per session factory, and we don't use any specific ehcache configuration,
 		 * so we know the caches don't exist before we start the session factory.
 		 */
 
 		// let's try to build the standard testing SessionFactory, without pre-defining caches
-		try ( SessionFactoryImplementor ignored = TestHelper.buildStandardSessionFactory( additionalSettings ) ) {
+		try ( SessionFactoryImplementor ignored = TestHelper.buildStandardSessionFactory(
+				builder -> builder.applySetting( ConfigSettings.MISSING_CACHE_STRATEGY, "fail" )
+		) ) {
 			fail();
 		}
 		catch (ServiceException expected) {
@@ -91,6 +87,12 @@ public void testMissingCacheStrategyCreate() {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testMissingCacheStrategyCreateWarn() {
+		doTestMissingCacheStrategyCreateWarn(
+				builder -> builder.applySetting( ConfigSettings.MISSING_CACHE_STRATEGY, "create-warn" )
+		);
+	}
+
+	private void doTestMissingCacheStrategyCreateWarn(Consumer<StandardServiceRegistryBuilder> additionalSettings) {
 		/*
 		 * The cache manager is created per session factory, and we don't use any specific ehcache configuration,
 		 * so we know the caches don't exist before we start the session factory.
@@ -106,9 +108,7 @@ public void testMissingCacheStrategyCreateWarn() {
 			);
 		}
 
-		try ( SessionFactoryImplementor sessionFactory = TestHelper.buildStandardSessionFactory(
-				builder -> builder.applySetting( ConfigSettings.MISSING_CACHE_STRATEGY, "create-warn" )
-		) ) {
+		try ( SessionFactoryImplementor sessionFactory = TestHelper.buildStandardSessionFactory( additionalSettings ) ) {
 			for ( String regionName : TestHelper.allRegionNames ) {
 				// The caches should have been created automatically
 				assertThat(