diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/InternalSettingsPreparer.java b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/InternalSettingsPreparer.java
index 64844903cd7..a6abf1b4f30 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/InternalSettingsPreparer.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/node/InternalSettingsPreparer.java
@@ -116,13 +116,16 @@ public class InternalSettingsPreparer {
         // This method to be removed in 8.0.0, as it was deprecated in 6.0 and removed in 7.0
         assert Version.CURRENT.major != 8: "Logic pertaining to config driven prompting should be removed";
         for (String setting : output.keys()) {
-            switch (output.get(setting)) {
-                case SECRET_PROMPT_VALUE:
-                    throw new SettingsException("Config driven secret prompting was deprecated in 6.0.0. Use the keystore" +
-                        " for secure settings.");
-                case TEXT_PROMPT_VALUE:
-                    throw new SettingsException("Config driven text prompting was deprecated in 6.0.0. Use the keystore" +
-                        " for secure settings.");
+            final String value = output.get(setting);
+            if (value != null) {
+                switch (value) {
+                    case SECRET_PROMPT_VALUE:
+                        throw new SettingsException("Config driven secret prompting was deprecated in 6.0.0. Use the keystore" +
+                            " for secure settings.");
+                    case TEXT_PROMPT_VALUE:
+                        throw new SettingsException("Config driven text prompting was deprecated in 6.0.0. Use the keystore" +
+                            " for secure settings.");
+                }
             }
         }
     }