diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/internal/ExternalShardAllocationClientImpl.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/internal/ExternalShardAllocationClientImpl.scala
index d315a11ac8..08c6bbf569 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/internal/ExternalShardAllocationClientImpl.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/internal/ExternalShardAllocationClientImpl.scala
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import akka.cluster.ddata.LWWMap
 import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.Get
 import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.GetFailure
 import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.GetSuccess
+import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.NotFound
 import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.ReadMajority
 import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.Update
 import akka.cluster.ddata.Replicator.UpdateSuccess
@@ -79,6 +80,8 @@ final private[external] class ExternalShardAllocationClientImpl(system: ActorSys
         case success @ GetSuccess(`Key`, _) =>
           Future.successful(
             success.get(Key).entries.transform((_, asStr) => ShardLocation(AddressFromURIString(asStr))))
+        case NotFound(_, _) =>
+          Future.successful(Map.empty[ShardId, ShardLocation])
         case GetFailure(_, _) =>
           Future.failed((new ClientTimeoutException(s"Unable to get shard locations after ${timeout.duration.pretty}")))
       }
diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/ExternalShardAllocationStrategySpec.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/ExternalShardAllocationStrategySpec.scala
index b40a77e718..2384907b25 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/ExternalShardAllocationStrategySpec.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/test/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/external/ExternalShardAllocationStrategySpec.scala
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@ class ExternalShardAllocationStrategySpec extends AkkaSpec("""
 
   val requester = TestProbe()
 
+  "ExternalShardAllocationClient" must {
+    "default to no locations if sharding never started" in {
+      ExternalShardAllocation(system)
+        .clientFor("not found")
+        .shardLocations()
+        .futureValue
+        .locations shouldEqual Map.empty
+    }
+  }
+
   "ExternalShardAllocation allocate" must {
     "default to requester if query times out" in {
       val (strat, _) = createStrategy()