diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/AbstractEnvironment.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/AbstractEnvironment.java
index 56c894fa05..6a75edcb1c 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/AbstractEnvironment.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/AbstractEnvironment.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -227,15 +227,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractEnvironment implements ConfigurableEnvironment {
 	/**
 	 * Return the set of active profiles as explicitly set through
 	 * {@link #setActiveProfiles} or if the current set of active profiles
-	 * is empty, check for the presence of the {@value #ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME}
-	 * property and assign its value to the set of active profiles.
+	 * is empty, check for the presence of {@link #doGetActiveProfilesProperty()}
+	 * and assign its value to the set of active profiles.
 	 * @see #getActiveProfiles()
-	 * @see #ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME
+	 * @see #doGetActiveProfilesProperty()
 	 */
 	protected Set<String> doGetActiveProfiles() {
 		synchronized (this.activeProfiles) {
 			if (this.activeProfiles.isEmpty()) {
-				String profiles = getProperty(ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME);
+				String profiles = doGetActiveProfilesProperty();
 				if (StringUtils.hasText(profiles)) {
 					setActiveProfiles(StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(
 							StringUtils.trimAllWhitespace(profiles)));
@@ -245,6 +245,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractEnvironment implements ConfigurableEnvironment {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Return the property value for the active profiles.
+	 * @since 5.3.4
+	 * @see #ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME
+	 */
+	protected String doGetActiveProfilesProperty() {
+		return getProperty(ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME);
+	}
+
 	@Override
 	public void setActiveProfiles(String... profiles) {
 		Assert.notNull(profiles, "Profile array must not be null");
@@ -282,18 +291,17 @@ public abstract class AbstractEnvironment implements ConfigurableEnvironment {
 	 * Return the set of default profiles explicitly set via
 	 * {@link #setDefaultProfiles(String...)} or if the current set of default profiles
 	 * consists only of {@linkplain #getReservedDefaultProfiles() reserved default
-	 * profiles}, then check for the presence of the
-	 * {@value #DEFAULT_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME} property and assign its value (if any)
-	 * to the set of default profiles.
+	 * profiles}, then check for the presence of {@link #doGetActiveProfilesProperty()}
+	 * and assign its value (if any) to the set of default profiles.
 	 * @see #AbstractEnvironment()
 	 * @see #getDefaultProfiles()
-	 * @see #DEFAULT_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME
 	 * @see #getReservedDefaultProfiles()
+	 * @see #doGetDefaultProfilesProperty()
 	 */
 	protected Set<String> doGetDefaultProfiles() {
 		synchronized (this.defaultProfiles) {
 			if (this.defaultProfiles.equals(getReservedDefaultProfiles())) {
-				String profiles = getProperty(DEFAULT_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME);
+				String profiles = doGetDefaultProfilesProperty();
 				if (StringUtils.hasText(profiles)) {
 					setDefaultProfiles(StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(
 							StringUtils.trimAllWhitespace(profiles)));
@@ -303,6 +311,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractEnvironment implements ConfigurableEnvironment {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Return the property value for the default profiles.
+	 * @since 5.3.4
+	 * @see #DEFAULT_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME
+	 */
+	protected String doGetDefaultProfilesProperty() {
+		return getProperty(DEFAULT_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Specify the set of profiles to be made active by default if no other profiles
 	 * are explicitly made active through {@link #setActiveProfiles}.
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/env/CustomEnvironmentTests.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/env/CustomEnvironmentTests.java
index f564c74a60..dd7bac24ee 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/env/CustomEnvironmentTests.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/env/CustomEnvironmentTests.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2019 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2021 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ package org.springframework.core.env;
 
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
@@ -105,6 +107,28 @@ class CustomEnvironmentTests {
 		assertThat(env.acceptsProfiles(Profiles.of("a1 | a2"))).isFalse();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void withNoProfileProperties() {
+		ConfigurableEnvironment env = new AbstractEnvironment() {
+			@Override
+			protected String doGetActiveProfilesProperty() {
+				return null;
+			}
+
+			@Override
+			protected String doGetDefaultProfilesProperty() {
+				return null;
+			}
+		};
+		Map<String, Object> values = new LinkedHashMap<>();
+		values.put(AbstractEnvironment.ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME, "a,b,c");
+		values.put(AbstractEnvironment.DEFAULT_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME, "d,e,f");
+		PropertySource<?> propertySource = new MapPropertySource("test", values);
+		env.getPropertySources().addFirst(propertySource);
+		assertThat(env.getActiveProfiles()).isEmpty();
+		assertThat(env.getDefaultProfiles()).containsExactly(AbstractEnvironment.RESERVED_DEFAULT_PROFILE_NAME);
+	}
+
 	private Profiles defaultProfile() {
 		return Profiles.of(AbstractEnvironment.RESERVED_DEFAULT_PROFILE_NAME);
 	}