diff --git a/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProvider.java b/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProvider.java
index 35dd38f406..8670b88f06 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProvider.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProvider.java
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.config.loader.ConfigProvider;
 
 /**
@@ -34,6 +37,8 @@
  */
 public class PropertiesConfigProvider implements ConfigProvider {
 
+  private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PropertiesConfigProvider.class);
+
   private final Properties properties;
 
   /** Returns a {@link PropertiesConfigProvider} backed by {@link System#getProperties()}. */
@@ -44,7 +49,18 @@ public static PropertiesConfigProvider systemProperties() {
   /**
    * Loads properties from the given file path.
    *
-   * @throws UncheckedIOException if the file cannot be read
+   * @throws UncheckedIOException if the file cannot be read. Does not throw an exception if the
+   *     file does not exist.
+   */
+  public PropertiesConfigProvider(String path) {
+    this(Path.of(path));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Loads properties from the given file path.
+   *
+   * @throws UncheckedIOException if the file cannot be read. Does not throw an exception if the
+   *     file does not exist.
    */
   public PropertiesConfigProvider(Path path) {
     this.properties = load(path);
@@ -68,6 +84,11 @@ public <T> Optional<T> getValue(String key, Class<T> type) {
   }
 
   private static Properties load(Path path) {
+    if (!Files.exists(path)) {
+      log.warn("{} does not exist", path);
+      return new Properties();
+    }
+
     try (InputStream in = Files.newInputStream(path)) {
       Properties props = new Properties();
       props.load(in);
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProvider.java b/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProvider.java
index 52b07b011d..d631496d59 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProvider.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/main/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProvider.java
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
 import io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.config.loader.ConfigProvider;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
@@ -39,6 +42,8 @@
  */
 public class YamlConfigProvider implements ConfigProvider {
 
+  private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(YamlConfigProvider.class);
+
   private static final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper(new YAMLFactory());
 
   private final Map<String, Object> data;
@@ -46,7 +51,18 @@ public class YamlConfigProvider implements ConfigProvider {
   /**
    * Loads YAML from the given file path.
    *
-   * @throws UncheckedIOException if the file cannot be read
+   * @throws UncheckedIOException if the file cannot be read. Does not throw an exception if the
+   *     file does not exist.
+   */
+  public YamlConfigProvider(String path) {
+    this(Path.of(path));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Loads YAML from the given file path.
+   *
+   * @throws UncheckedIOException if the file cannot be read. Does not throw an exception if the
+   *     file does not exist.
    */
   public YamlConfigProvider(Path path) {
     this.data = load(path);
@@ -79,6 +95,11 @@ public <T> Optional<T> getValue(String key, Class<T> type) {
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private static Map<String, Object> load(Path path) {
+    if (!Files.exists(path)) {
+      log.warn("{} does not exist", path);
+      return Map.of();
+    }
+
     try (InputStream in = Files.newInputStream(path)) {
       Map<String, Object> result = MAPPER.readValue(in, Map.class);
       return result != null ? result : Map.of();
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProviderTest.java b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProviderTest.java
index c44534eb3a..dd9fd7b599 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProviderTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/PropertiesConfigProviderTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.config.loader.provider;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.time.Duration;
@@ -27,7 +26,6 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatIllegalArgumentException;
 
 class PropertiesConfigProviderTest {
@@ -120,10 +118,9 @@ void loadsFromFile(@TempDir Path dir) throws IOException {
   }
 
   @Test
-  void throwsUncheckedIOExceptionForMissingFile(@TempDir Path dir) {
+  void returnsEmptyForNonExistingFile(@TempDir Path dir) {
     Path missing = dir.resolve("does-not-exist.properties");
-    assertThatExceptionOfType(UncheckedIOException.class)
-        .isThrownBy(() -> new PropertiesConfigProvider(missing))
-        .withMessageContaining("does-not-exist.properties");
+    var provider = new PropertiesConfigProvider(missing);
+    assertThat(provider.getValue("any.key", String.class)).isEmpty();
   }
 }
diff --git a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProviderTest.java b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProviderTest.java
index 4f8c53ac38..2362b85ea4 100644
--- a/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProviderTest.java
+++ b/operator-framework/src/test/java/io/javaoperatorsdk/operator/config/loader/provider/YamlConfigProviderTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 package io.javaoperatorsdk.operator.config.loader.provider;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.io.UncheckedIOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.time.Duration;
@@ -27,7 +26,6 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatIllegalArgumentException;
 
 class YamlConfigProviderTest {
@@ -135,10 +133,9 @@ void loadsFromFile(@TempDir Path dir) throws IOException {
   }
 
   @Test
-  void throwsUncheckedIOExceptionForMissingFile(@TempDir Path dir) {
+  void returnsEmptyForNonExistingFile(@TempDir Path dir) {
     Path missing = dir.resolve("does-not-exist.yaml");
-    assertThatExceptionOfType(UncheckedIOException.class)
-        .isThrownBy(() -> new YamlConfigProvider(missing))
-        .withMessageContaining("does-not-exist.yaml");
+    var provider = new YamlConfigProvider(missing);
+    assertThat(provider.getValue("any.key", String.class)).isEmpty();
   }
 }