diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AbstractTestContextBootstrapper.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AbstractTestContextBootstrapper.java
index 7cc828dd088..4075e367d3a 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AbstractTestContextBootstrapper.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/AbstractTestContextBootstrapper.java
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractTestContextBootstrapper implements TestContextBoot
 			CacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate cacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate) {
 
 		List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> defaultConfigAttributesList =
-				Collections.singletonList(new ContextConfigurationAttributes(testClass));
+				ContextLoaderUtils.resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(testClass);
 
 		ContextLoader contextLoader = resolveContextLoader(testClass, defaultConfigAttributesList);
 		if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
diff --git a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java
index ab7b5165e0e..96527a38674 100644
--- a/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java
+++ b/spring-test/src/main/java/org/springframework/test/context/support/ContextLoaderUtils.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfigurationAttributes;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextHierarchy;
 import org.springframework.test.context.SmartContextLoader;
+import org.springframework.test.context.TestContextAnnotationUtils;
 import org.springframework.test.context.TestContextAnnotationUtils.AnnotationDescriptor;
 import org.springframework.test.context.TestContextAnnotationUtils.UntypedAnnotationDescriptor;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
@@ -92,6 +93,7 @@ abstract class ContextLoaderUtils {
 	 * {@code @ContextHierarchy} as top-level annotations.
 	 * @since 3.2.2
 	 * @see #buildContextHierarchyMap(Class)
+	 * @see #resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(Class)
 	 * @see #resolveContextConfigurationAttributes(Class)
 	 */
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
@@ -215,6 +217,44 @@ abstract class ContextLoaderUtils {
 		return map;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Resolve the list of <em>default</em> {@linkplain ContextConfigurationAttributes
+	 * context configuration attributes} for the supplied {@linkplain Class test class}
+	 * and its superclasses and enclosing classes.
+	 * <p>Use this method instead of {@link #resolveContextConfigurationAttributes(Class)}
+	 * if neither {@link ContextConfiguration @ContextConfiguration} nor
+	 * {@link ContextHierarchy @ContextHierarchy} is present in the class hierarchy
+	 * of the supplied test class.
+	 * @param testClass the class for which to resolve the configuration attributes
+	 * (must not be {@code null})
+	 * @return the list of configuration attributes for the specified class, ordered
+	 * <em>bottom-up</em> (i.e., as if we were traversing up the class hierarchy
+	 * and enclosing class hierarchy); never {@code null}
+	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the supplied class is {@code null}
+	 * @since 7.0.2
+	 */
+	static List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(Class<?> testClass) {
+		Assert.notNull(testClass, "Class must not be null");
+		List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> results = new ArrayList<>();
+		resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(results, testClass);
+		return results;
+	}
+
+	private static void resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(
+			List<ContextConfigurationAttributes> results, Class<?> testClass) {
+
+		results.add(0, new ContextConfigurationAttributes(testClass));
+
+		Class<?> superclass = testClass.getSuperclass();
+		if (superclass != null && superclass != Object.class) {
+			resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(results, superclass);
+		}
+
+		if (TestContextAnnotationUtils.searchEnclosingClass(testClass)) {
+			resolveDefaultContextConfigurationAttributes(results, testClass.getEnclosingClass());
+		}
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Resolve the list of {@linkplain ContextConfigurationAttributes context
 	 * configuration attributes} for the supplied {@linkplain Class test class}
diff --git a/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit/jupiter/nested/DefaultContextConfigurationDetectionWithNestedTests.java b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit/jupiter/nested/DefaultContextConfigurationDetectionWithNestedTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c1c81528e39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-test/src/test/java/org/springframework/test/context/junit/jupiter/nested/DefaultContextConfigurationDetectionWithNestedTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.test.context.junit.jupiter.nested;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
+import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotatedElementUtils;
+import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit.jupiter.SpringExtension;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+/**
+ * Integration tests for detection of default context configuration within
+ * nested test class hierarchies without the use of {@link ContextConfiguration}.
+ *
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 7.0.2
+ * @see <a href="https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/issues/31456">gh-31456</a>
+ */
+@ExtendWith(SpringExtension.class)
+class DefaultContextConfigurationDetectionWithNestedTests {
+
+	@Autowired
+	String greeting;
+
+	@Test
+	void test(@Autowired String localGreeting) {
+		// This class must NOT be annotated with @SpringJUnitConfig or @ContextConfiguration.
+		assertThat(AnnotatedElementUtils.hasAnnotation(getClass(), ContextConfiguration.class)).isFalse();
+
+		assertThat(greeting).isEqualTo("TEST");
+		assertThat(localGreeting).isEqualTo("TEST");
+	}
+
+	@Nested
+	class NestedTests {
+
+		@Test
+		void test(@Autowired String localGreeting) {
+			assertThat(greeting).isEqualTo("TEST");
+			assertThat(localGreeting).isEqualTo("TEST");
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Configuration
+	static class DefaultConfig {
+
+		@Bean
+		String greeting() {
+			return "TEST";
+		}
+	}
+
+}