diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/docker_config_storage_creator/docker_config_storage_creator.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/docker_config_storage_creator/docker_config_storage_creator.go
index 47a4ffd962..e5a22cfa36 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/docker_config_storage_creator/docker_config_storage_creator.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/docker_config_storage_creator/docker_config_storage_creator.go
@@ -114,9 +114,12 @@ func storeConfigInVolume(
 	for _, registry := range registries {
 		creds, err := docker_manager.GetAuthFromDockerConfig(registry)
 		if err != nil {
-			return stacktrace.NewError("An error occurred getting auth for registry '%v' from Docker config: %v", registry, err)
+			logrus.Warnf("An error occurred getting auth for registry '%v' from Docker config: %v", registry, err)
+		}
+		// creds can be nil if the registry doesn't have auth
+		if err != nil && creds != nil {
+			cfg.Auths[registry] = *creds
 		}
-		cfg.Auths[registry] = *creds
 	}
 
 	cfgJsonStr, err := json.Marshal(cfg)
diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_manager/docker_auth_test.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_manager/docker_auth_test.go
index 1f328911e2..6e11673768 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_manager/docker_auth_test.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_manager/docker_auth_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ func writeStaticConfig(t *testing.T, configContent string) string {
 	return tmpDir
 }
 
+func TestGetAuthWithNoAuthSetReturnsNilAndNoError(t *testing.T) {
+	authConfig, err := GetAuthFromDockerConfig("my-repo/my-image:latest")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Nil(t, authConfig, "Auth config should be nil")
+}
+
 func TestGetAuthConfigForRepoPlain(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedUser := "user"
 	expectedPassword := "password"