diff --git a/src/confdb/confdb_setup.c b/src/confdb/confdb_setup.c
index 3cf345e86a8..5b459262ea2 100644
--- a/src/confdb/confdb_setup.c
+++ b/src/confdb/confdb_setup.c
@@ -160,7 +160,8 @@ static int confdb_write_ldif(struct confdb_ctx *cdb,
 static int confdb_init_db(const char *config_file,
                           const char *config_dir,
                           const char *only_section,
-                          struct confdb_ctx *cdb)
+                          struct confdb_ctx *cdb,
+                          bool allow_missing_file)
 {
     TALLOC_CTX *tmp_ctx;
     int ret;
@@ -189,10 +190,16 @@ static int confdb_init_db(const char *config_file,
                                     init_data,
                                     &config_ldif);
     if (ret != EOK) {
-        DEBUG(SSSDBG_CRIT_FAILURE,
-              "Cannot convert INI to LDIF [%d]: [%s]\n",
-            ret, sss_strerror(ret));
-        goto done;
+        if (ret == ERR_INI_EMPTY_CONFIG && allow_missing_file) {
+            DEBUG(SSSDBG_TRACE_FUNC, "Empty configuration. Using the defaults.\n");
+            ret = EOK;
+            goto done;
+        } else {
+            DEBUG(SSSDBG_CRIT_FAILURE,
+                  "Cannot convert INI to LDIF [%d]: [%s]\n",
+                ret, sss_strerror(ret));
+            goto done;
+        }
     }
 
     DEBUG(SSSDBG_CONF_SETTINGS, "LDIF file to import: \n%s\n", config_ldif);
@@ -251,6 +258,7 @@ errno_t confdb_setup(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
                      const char *config_file,
                      const char *config_dir,
                      const char *only_section,
+                     bool allow_missing_file,
                      struct confdb_ctx **_cdb)
 {
     TALLOC_CTX *tmp_ctx;
@@ -295,7 +303,8 @@ errno_t confdb_setup(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
     }
 
     /* Initialize the CDB from the configuration file */
-    ret = confdb_init_db(config_file, config_dir, only_section, cdb);
+    ret = confdb_init_db(config_file, config_dir, only_section, cdb,
+                         allow_missing_file);
     if (ret != EOK) {
         DEBUG(SSSDBG_FATAL_FAILURE, "ConfDB initialization has failed "
               "[%d]: %s\n", ret, sss_strerror(ret));
diff --git a/src/confdb/confdb_setup.h b/src/confdb/confdb_setup.h
index d12441165c4..84b29b01fe9 100644
--- a/src/confdb/confdb_setup.h
+++ b/src/confdb/confdb_setup.h
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 #ifndef CONFDB_SETUP_H_
 #define CONFDB_SETUP_H_
 
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
 #define CONFDB_BASE_LDIF \
      "dn: @ATTRIBUTES\n" \
      "cn: CASE_INSENSITIVE\n" \
@@ -42,6 +44,7 @@ errno_t confdb_setup(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
                      const char *config_file,
                      const char *config_dir,
                      const char *only_section,
+                     bool allow_missing_file,
                      struct confdb_ctx **_cdb);
 
 #endif /* CONFDB_SETUP_H_ */
diff --git a/src/monitor/monitor.c b/src/monitor/monitor.c
index 68d36b91c2c..14978396105 100644
--- a/src/monitor/monitor.c
+++ b/src/monitor/monitor.c
@@ -1502,7 +1502,7 @@ errno_t load_configuration(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
     }
 
     ret = confdb_setup(ctx, cdb_file, config_file, config_dir, only_section,
-                       &ctx->cdb);
+                       false, &ctx->cdb);
     if (ret != EOK) {
         DEBUG(SSSDBG_FATAL_FAILURE, "Unable to setup ConfDB [%d]: %s\n",
              ret, sss_strerror(ret));
diff --git a/src/tools/common/sss_tools.c b/src/tools/common/sss_tools.c
index e67de3a66ab..fd8075421fc 100644
--- a/src/tools/common/sss_tools.c
+++ b/src/tools/common/sss_tools.c
@@ -102,8 +102,7 @@ static errno_t sss_tool_confdb_init(TALLOC_CTX *mem_ctx,
 
     ret = confdb_setup(mem_ctx, path,
                        SSSD_CONFIG_FILE, CONFDB_DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR,
-                       NULL,
-                       &confdb);
+                       NULL, false, &confdb);
     talloc_zfree(path);
     if (ret != EOK) {
         DEBUG(SSSDBG_FATAL_FAILURE, "Unable to setup ConfDB [%d]: %s\n",