diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java
index 23ff2793c35..b375ffa93d0 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ public class GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration {
 		GroovyMarkupConfigurer groovyMarkupConfigurer(ObjectProvider<MarkupTemplateEngine> templateEngine,
 				Environment environment) {
 			GroovyMarkupConfigurer configurer = new GroovyMarkupConfigurer();
-			PropertyMapper map = PropertyMapper.get();
+			PropertyMapper map = PropertyMapper.get().alwaysApplyingWhenNonNull();
 			map.from(this.properties::isAutoEscape).to(configurer::setAutoEscape);
 			map.from(this.properties::isAutoIndent).to(configurer::setAutoIndent);
 			map.from(this.properties::getAutoIndentString).to(configurer::setAutoIndentString);
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java
index 159161a008a..51983770f5b 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import groovy.text.markup.BaseTemplate;
+import groovy.text.markup.DelegatingIndentWriter;
 import groovy.text.markup.MarkupTemplateEngine;
 import groovy.text.markup.TemplateConfiguration;
 import jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
@@ -159,9 +160,16 @@ class GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertThat(result).contains("suffixed");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void defaultResourceLoaderPath() throws Exception {
+		registerAndRefreshContext();
+		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getResourceLoaderPath())
+			.isEqualTo(GroovyTemplateProperties.DEFAULT_RESOURCE_LOADER_PATH);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	@WithResource(name = "custom-templates/custom.tpl", content = "yield \"custom\"")
-	void customTemplateLoaderPath() throws Exception {
+	void customResourceLoaderPath() throws Exception {
 		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.resource-loader-path:classpath:/custom-templates/");
 		MockHttpServletResponse response = render("custom");
 		String result = response.getContentAsString();
@@ -206,6 +214,13 @@ class GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).isAutoIndent()).isTrue();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void defaultAutoIndentString() {
+		registerAndRefreshContext();
+		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getAutoIndentString())
+			.isEqualTo(DelegatingIndentWriter.SPACES);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void customAutoIndentString() {
 		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.auto-indent-string:\\t");
@@ -218,6 +233,13 @@ class GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).isAutoNewLine()).isTrue();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void defaultBaseTemplateClass() {
+		registerAndRefreshContext();
+		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getBaseTemplateClass())
+			.isEqualTo(BaseTemplate.class);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void customBaseTemplateClass() {
 		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.base-template-class:" + CustomBaseTemplate.class.getName());
@@ -225,6 +247,12 @@ class GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests {
 			.isEqualTo(CustomBaseTemplate.class);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void defaultDeclarationEncoding() {
+		registerAndRefreshContext();
+		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getDeclarationEncoding()).isNull();
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void customDeclarationEncoding() {
 		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.declaration-encoding:UTF-8");
@@ -237,12 +265,25 @@ class GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).isExpandEmptyElements()).isTrue();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void defaultLocale() {
+		registerAndRefreshContext();
+		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getLocale()).isEqualTo(Locale.getDefault());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void customLocale() {
 		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.locale:en_US");
 		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getLocale()).isEqualTo(Locale.US);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void defaultNewLineString() {
+		registerAndRefreshContext();
+		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyMarkupConfigurer.class).getNewLineString())
+			.isEqualTo(System.lineSeparator());
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	void customNewLineString() {
 		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.new-line-string:\\r\\n");