diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java
index 0fddd28961..232a7e51b4 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer.java
@@ -159,6 +159,7 @@ public class ConcurrentKafkaListenerContainerFactoryConfigurer {
 				.as(Number::intValue).to(container::setMonitorInterval);
 		map.from(properties::getLogContainerConfig).to(container::setLogContainerConfig);
 		map.from(this.transactionManager).to(container::setTransactionManager);
+		map.from(properties::getMissingTopicsFatal).to(container::setMissingTopicsFatal);
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaProperties.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaProperties.java
index 81be6990e2..e82c88e6d3 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaProperties.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaProperties.java
@@ -873,6 +873,11 @@ public class KafkaProperties {
 		 */
 		private Boolean logContainerConfig;
 
+		/**
+		 * Set to false to disable checking that topic(s) exist.
+		 */
+		private Boolean missingTopicsFatal;
+
 		public Type getType() {
 			return this.type;
 		}
@@ -961,6 +966,14 @@ public class KafkaProperties {
 			this.logContainerConfig = logContainerConfig;
 		}
 
+		public Boolean getMissingTopicsFatal() {
+			return this.missingTopicsFatal;
+		}
+
+		public void setMissingTopicsFatal(Boolean missingTopicsFatal) {
+			this.missingTopicsFatal = missingTopicsFatal;
+		}
+
 	}
 
 	public static class Ssl {
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java
index ae5aa6f431..444efdc2de 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/kafka/KafkaAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -457,6 +457,7 @@ public class KafkaAutoConfigurationTests {
 						"spring.kafka.listener.idle-event-interval=1s",
 						"spring.kafka.listener.monitor-interval=45",
 						"spring.kafka.listener.log-container-config=true",
+						"spring.kafka.listener.missing-topics-fatal=false",
 						"spring.kafka.jaas.enabled=true",
 						"spring.kafka.producer.transaction-id-prefix=foo",
 						"spring.kafka.jaas.login-module=foo",
@@ -491,6 +492,7 @@ public class KafkaAutoConfigurationTests {
 							.isEqualTo(1000L);
 					assertThat(containerProperties.getMonitorInterval()).isEqualTo(45);
 					assertThat(containerProperties.isLogContainerConfig()).isTrue();
+					assertThat(containerProperties.isMissingTopicsFatal()).isFalse();
 					assertThat(ReflectionTestUtils.getField(kafkaListenerContainerFactory,
 							"concurrency")).isEqualTo(3);
 					assertThat(kafkaListenerContainerFactory.isBatchListener()).isTrue();