diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/properties/CrshProperties.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/properties/CrshProperties.java
index 57cf59eb7c8..f6da9366498 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/properties/CrshProperties.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/properties/CrshProperties.java
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public class CrshProperties {
 	private String auth = "simple";
 
 	@Autowired(required = false)
-	private AuthenticationProperties authenticationProperties;
+	private AuthenticationProperties authenticationProperties = new SimpleAuthenticationProperties();
 
 	private int commandRefreshInterval = -1;
 
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ public class CrshProperties {
 	}
 
 	public interface PropertiesProvider {
+
 		Properties mergeProperties(Properties properties);
 	}
 
@@ -232,7 +233,8 @@ public class CrshProperties {
 			properties.put(CRASH_AUTH_SIMPLE_USERNAME, this.username);
 			properties.put(CRASH_AUTH_SIMPLE_PASSWORD, this.password);
 			if (this.defaultPassword) {
-				logger.info("Using default password for shell access: " + this.password);
+				logger.info("\n\nUsing default password for shell access: "
+						+ this.password + "\n\n");
 			}
 			return properties;
 		}
diff --git a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/CrshAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/CrshAutoConfigurationTests.java
index 297f7910926..c28fe390540 100644
--- a/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/CrshAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-actuator/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/actuate/autoconfigure/CrshAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -185,6 +185,20 @@ public class CrshAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertEquals(3, count);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void testDefaultAuthenticationProvider() {
+		MockEnvironment env = new MockEnvironment();
+		this.context = new AnnotationConfigWebApplicationContext();
+		this.context.setEnvironment(env);
+		this.context.setServletContext(new MockServletContext());
+		this.context.register(SecurityConfiguration.class);
+		this.context.register(CrshAutoConfiguration.class);
+		this.context.refresh();
+		
+		PluginLifeCycle lifeCycle = this.context.getBean(PluginLifeCycle.class);
+		assertEquals(lifeCycle.getConfig().get("crash.auth"), "simple");
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void testJaasAuthenticationProvider() {
 		MockEnvironment env = new MockEnvironment();