diff --git a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/ConstructorReference.java b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/ConstructorReference.java
index 5e601f356c1..c9a68578ae0 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/ConstructorReference.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ast/ConstructorReference.java
@@ -243,6 +243,12 @@ public class ConstructorReference extends SpelNodeImpl {
 							intendedArrayType != null ? intendedArrayType.getClass() : null));
 		}
 
+		if (state.getEvaluationContext().getConstructorResolvers().isEmpty()) {
+			// No constructor resolver -> no array construction either (as of 6.0)
+			throw new SpelEvaluationException(getStartPosition(), SpelMessage.CONSTRUCTOR_NOT_FOUND,
+					type + "[]", "[]");
+		}
+
 		Class<?> componentType;
 		TypeCode arrayTypeCode = TypeCode.forName(type);
 		if (arrayTypeCode == TypeCode.OBJECT) {
diff --git a/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ArrayConstructorTests.java b/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ArrayConstructorTests.java
index 252e532e748..7d9606f88fb 100644
--- a/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ArrayConstructorTests.java
+++ b/spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/ArrayConstructorTests.java
@@ -18,17 +18,21 @@ package org.springframework.expression.spel;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.expression.Expression;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser;
+import org.springframework.expression.spel.support.SimpleEvaluationContext;
 import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
 
 /**
  * Test construction of arrays.
  *
  * @author Andy Clement
  * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @author Juergen Hoeller
  */
 class ArrayConstructorTests extends AbstractExpressionTests {
 
@@ -97,7 +101,7 @@ class ArrayConstructorTests extends AbstractExpressionTests {
 	void typeArrayConstructors() {
 		evaluate("new String[]{'a','b','c','d'}[1]", "b", String.class);
 		evaluateAndCheckError("new String[]{'a','b','c','d'}.size()", SpelMessage.METHOD_NOT_FOUND, 30, "size()",
-			"java.lang.String[]");
+				"java.lang.String[]");
 		evaluate("new String[]{'a','b','c','d'}.length", 4, Integer.class);
 	}
 
@@ -110,10 +114,18 @@ class ArrayConstructorTests extends AbstractExpressionTests {
 	void multiDimensionalArrays() {
 		evaluate("new String[2][2]", "[Ljava.lang.String;[2]{[2]{null,null},[2]{null,null}}", String[][].class);
 		evaluate("new String[3][2][1]",
-			"[[Ljava.lang.String;[3]{[2]{[1]{null},[1]{null}},[2]{[1]{null},[1]{null}},[2]{[1]{null},[1]{null}}}",
-			String[][][].class);
+				"[[Ljava.lang.String;[3]{[2]{[1]{null},[1]{null}},[2]{[1]{null},[1]{null}},[2]{[1]{null},[1]{null}}}",
+				String[][][].class);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	void noArrayConstruction() {
+		EvaluationContext context = SimpleEvaluationContext.forReadWriteDataBinding().build();
+		assertThatExceptionOfType(SpelEvaluationException.class).isThrownBy(() ->
+				parser.parseExpression("new int[2]").getValue(context));
+	}
+
+
 	private void evaluateArrayBuildingExpression(String expression, String expectedToString) {
 		SpelExpressionParser parser = new SpelExpressionParser();
 		Expression e = parser.parseExpression(expression);