diff --git a/pkg/server/server.go b/pkg/server/server.go
index 7135dbc406d..edc6751ab2e 100644
--- a/pkg/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/server/server.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/middleware"
 	_ "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/plugins/manager"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/registry"
+	_ "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/accesscontrol/manager"
 	_ "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/alerting"
 	_ "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/auth"
 	_ "github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/cleanup"
diff --git a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/manager/manager.go b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/manager/manager.go
index b8bdf224e44..f5a9fab640b 100644
--- a/pkg/services/accesscontrol/manager/manager.go
+++ b/pkg/services/accesscontrol/manager/manager.go
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ func (m *Manager) Init() error {
 }
 
 func (m *Manager) IsDisabled() bool {
+	if m.Cfg == nil {
+		return true
+	}
+
 	_, exists := m.Cfg.FeatureToggles["accesscontrol"]
 	return !exists
 }