diff --git a/camel-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/processor/validation/SchemaReader.java b/camel-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/processor/validation/SchemaReader.java
index 65719faeb2bb3..febcefe606df6 100644
--- a/camel-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/processor/validation/SchemaReader.java
+++ b/camel-core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/processor/validation/SchemaReader.java
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ protected SchemaFactory createSchemaFactory() {
         if (getResourceResolver() != null) {
             factory.setResourceResolver(getResourceResolver());
         }  
-        if (camelContext != null && !Boolean.parseBoolean(camelContext.getProperty(ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD))) {
+        if (camelContext == null || !Boolean.parseBoolean(camelContext.getProperty(ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD))) {
             try {
                 factory.setProperty(XMLConstants.ACCESS_EXTERNAL_DTD, "");
             } catch (SAXException e) {