diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java
index 210dfea3a7..a2780dbcfa 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration.java
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ import groovy.text.markup.TemplateConfiguration;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 
-import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
 import javax.servlet.Servlet;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanClassLoaderAware;
@@ -44,7 +43,6 @@ import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
 import org.springframework.core.io.DefaultResourceLoader;
 import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
 import org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader;
-import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 /**
  * Autoconfiguration support for Groovy templates in MVC. By default creates a
@@ -66,17 +64,6 @@ public class GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration {
 	@Autowired
 	private GroovyTemplateProperties properties;
 
-	@PostConstruct
-	public void checkTemplateLocationExists() {
-		if (this.properties.isCheckTemplateLocation()) {
-			Resource resource = this.resourceLoader.getResource(this.properties
-					.getPrefix());
-			Assert.state(resource.exists(), "Cannot find template location: " + resource
-					+ " (please add some templates "
-					+ "or check your FreeMarker configuration)");
-		}
-	}
-
 	@Configuration
 	@ConditionalOnClass({ Servlet.class, LocaleContextHolder.class })
 	@ConditionalOnWebApplication
@@ -108,8 +95,15 @@ public class GroovyTemplateAutoConfiguration {
 		}
 
 		private ClassLoader createParentLoaderForTemplates() throws Exception {
-			return new URLClassLoader(new URL[] { this.resourceLoader.getResource(
-					this.properties.getPrefix()).getURL() }, this.classLoader);
+			Resource resource = this.resourceLoader.getResource(this.properties
+					.getPrefix());
+			if (resource.exists()) {
+				return new URLClassLoader(new URL[] { resource.getURL() },
+						this.classLoader);
+			}
+			else {
+				return this.classLoader;
+			}
 		}
 
 		@Bean
diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateProperties.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateProperties.java
index b60031c84d..00bb6a3933 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateProperties.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateProperties.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class GroovyTemplateProperties {
 
 	private String[] viewNames;
 
-	private boolean checkTemplateLocation = true;
+	private boolean checkTemplateLocation = false;
 
 	private TemplateConfiguration configuration = new TemplateConfiguration();
 
diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories
index 7607d921a0..f3c9555e22 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/main/resources/META-INF/spring.factories
@@ -44,5 +44,6 @@ org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.websocket.WebSocketAutoConfiguration
 # Template availability providers
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.template.TemplateAvailabilityProvider=\
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.freemarker.FreeMarkerTemplateAvailabilityProvider,\
+org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.groovy.template.GroovyTemplateAvailabilityProvider,\
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.thymeleaf.ThymeleafTemplateAvailabilityProvider,\
 org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.web.JspTemplateAvailabilityProvider
diff --git a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java
index d9d12304c7..5d1e679f15 100644
--- a/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-autoconfigure/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/groovy/template/GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests.java
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
-import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException;
 import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.groovy.template.web.GroovyTemplateViewResolver;
 import org.springframework.boot.test.EnvironmentTestUtils;
 import org.springframework.context.i18n.LocaleContextHolder;
@@ -75,12 +74,6 @@ public class GroovyTemplateAutoConfigurationTests {
 		assertThat(this.context.getBean(GroovyTemplateViewResolver.class), notNullValue());
 	}
 
-	@Test(expected = BeanCreationException.class)
-	public void nonExistentTemplateLocation() {
-		registerAndRefreshContext("spring.groovy.template.prefix:"
-				+ "classpath:/does-not-exist/");
-	}
-
 	@Test
 	public void emptyTemplateLocation() {
 		new File("target/test-classes/templates/empty-directory").mkdir();