diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/SharedRefDatabaseWrapper.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/SharedRefDatabaseWrapper.java
index b56f2ea..ddf9d84 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/SharedRefDatabaseWrapper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/SharedRefDatabaseWrapper.java
@@ -21,11 +21,13 @@
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.extensions.registration.DynamicItem;
 import com.google.inject.Inject;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.validation.dfsrefdb.NoopSharedRefDatabase;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Ref;
 
 public class SharedRefDatabaseWrapper implements GlobalRefDatabase {
+  private static final GlobalRefDatabase NOOP_REFDB = new NoopSharedRefDatabase();
 
   @Inject(optional = true)
   private DynamicItem<GlobalRefDatabase> sharedRefDbDynamicItem;
@@ -95,6 +97,6 @@
   }
 
   private GlobalRefDatabase sharedRefDb() {
-    return sharedRefDbDynamicItem.get();
+    return Optional.ofNullable(sharedRefDbDynamicItem).map(di -> di.get()).orElse(NOOP_REFDB);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/RefUpdateValidatorTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/RefUpdateValidatorTest.java
index eefb685..de93545 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/RefUpdateValidatorTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/multisite/validation/RefUpdateValidatorTest.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 
 import com.google.gerrit.entities.Project;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.SharedRefDatabaseWrapper;
+import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.SharedRefLogger;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.validation.dfsrefdb.DefaultSharedRefEnforcement;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.validation.dfsrefdb.RefFixture;
 import com.googlesource.gerrit.plugins.multisite.validation.dfsrefdb.SharedDbSplitBrainException;
@@ -44,6 +45,8 @@
 
   @Mock SharedRefDatabaseWrapper sharedRefDb;
 
+  @Mock SharedRefLogger sharedRefLogger;
+
   @Mock RefDatabase localRefDb;
 
   @Mock ValidationMetrics validationMetrics;
@@ -71,14 +74,17 @@
     doReturn(refName).when(refUpdate).getName();
     lenient().doReturn(oldUpdateRef.getObjectId()).when(refUpdate).getOldObjectId();
 
-    refUpdateValidator =
-        new RefUpdateValidator(
-            sharedRefDb,
-            validationMetrics,
-            defaultRefEnforcement,
-            new DummyLockWrapper(),
-            A_TEST_PROJECT_NAME,
-            localRefDb);
+    refUpdateValidator = newRefUpdateValidator(sharedRefDb);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void validationShouldSucceedWhenSharedRefDbIsNoop() throws Exception {
+    SharedRefDatabaseWrapper noopSharedRefDbWrapper = new SharedRefDatabaseWrapper(sharedRefLogger);
+
+    Result result =
+        newRefUpdateValidator(noopSharedRefDbWrapper)
+            .executeRefUpdate(refUpdate, () -> RefUpdate.Result.NEW);
+    assertThat(result).isEqualTo(RefUpdate.Result.NEW);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -186,4 +192,14 @@
         .compareAndPut(any(Project.NameKey.class), any(Ref.class), any(ObjectId.class));
     assertThat(result).isEqualTo(RefUpdate.Result.LOCK_FAILURE);
   }
+
+  private RefUpdateValidator newRefUpdateValidator(SharedRefDatabaseWrapper refDbWrapper) {
+    return new RefUpdateValidator(
+        refDbWrapper,
+        validationMetrics,
+        defaultRefEnforcement,
+        new DummyLockWrapper(),
+        A_TEST_PROJECT_NAME,
+        localRefDb);
+  }
 }