diff --git a/man/systemd.exec.xml b/man/systemd.exec.xml
index d9ec44983f..56eb6af872 100644
--- a/man/systemd.exec.xml
+++ b/man/systemd.exec.xml
@@ -3385,6 +3385,9 @@ StandardInputData=V2XigLJyZSBubyBzdHJhbmdlcnMgdG8gbG92ZQpZb3Uga25vdyB0aGUgcnVsZX
         a terse way to declare credentials to inherit from the service manager into a service. This option
         may be used multiple times, each time defining an additional credential to pass to the unit.</para>
 
+        <para>Note that if the path is not specified or a valid credential identifier is given, i.e.
+        in the above two cases, a missing credential is not considered fatal.</para>
+
         <para>If an absolute path referring to a directory is specified, every file in that directory
         (recursively) will be loaded as a separate credential. The ID for each credential will be the
         provided ID suffixed with <literal>_$FILENAME</literal> (e.g., <literal>Key_file1</literal>). When
diff --git a/src/core/exec-credential.c b/src/core/exec-credential.c
index 1dbf70930e..9c48bd8d0f 100644
--- a/src/core/exec-credential.c
+++ b/src/core/exec-credential.c
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ static int load_credential(
 
                 /* Pass some minimal info about the unit and the credential name we are looking to acquire
                  * via the source socket address in case we read off an AF_UNIX socket. */
-                if (asprintf(&bindname, "@%" PRIx64"/unit/%s/%s", random_u64(), unit, id) < 0)
+                if (asprintf(&bindname, "@%" PRIx64 "/unit/%s/%s", random_u64(), unit, id) < 0)
                         return -ENOMEM;
 
                 missing_ok = false;
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ static int load_credential(
 
         maxsz = encrypted ? CREDENTIAL_ENCRYPTED_SIZE_MAX : CREDENTIAL_SIZE_MAX;
 
-        if (search_path) {
+        if (search_path)
                 STRV_FOREACH(d, search_path) {
                         _cleanup_free_ char *j = NULL;
 
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ static int load_credential(
                         if (r != -ENOENT)
                                 break;
                 }
-        } else if (source)
+        else if (source)
                 r = read_full_file_full(
                                 read_dfd, source,
                                 UINT64_MAX,
@@ -504,7 +504,8 @@ static int load_credential(
                  *
                  * Also, if the source file doesn't exist, but a fallback is set via SetCredentials=
                  * we are fine, too. */
-                log_debug_errno(r, "Couldn't read inherited credential '%s', skipping: %m", path);
+                log_full_errno(hashmap_contains(context->set_credentials, id) ? LOG_DEBUG : LOG_WARNING,
+                               r, "Couldn't read inherited credential '%s', skipping: %m", path);
                 return 0;
         }
         if (r < 0)
diff --git a/src/core/load-fragment.c b/src/core/load-fragment.c
index a8e13907ce..8215a66e31 100644
--- a/src/core/load-fragment.c
+++ b/src/core/load-fragment.c
@@ -4883,11 +4883,8 @@ int config_parse_load_credential(
                 void *data,
                 void *userdata) {
 
-        _cleanup_free_ char *word = NULL, *k = NULL, *q = NULL;
         ExecContext *context = ASSERT_PTR(data);
-        bool encrypted = ltype;
-        Unit *u = userdata;
-        const char *p;
+        const Unit *u = ASSERT_PTR(userdata);
         int r;
 
         assert(filename);
@@ -4900,7 +4897,10 @@ int config_parse_load_credential(
                 return 0;
         }
 
-        p = rvalue;
+        _cleanup_free_ char *word = NULL, *id = NULL, *path = NULL;
+        const char *p = rvalue;
+        bool encrypted = ltype;
+
         r = extract_first_word(&p, &word, ":", EXTRACT_DONT_COALESCE_SEPARATORS);
         if (r == -ENOMEM)
                 return log_oom();
@@ -4909,35 +4909,35 @@ int config_parse_load_credential(
                 return 0;
         }
 
-        r = unit_cred_printf(u, word, &k);
+        r = unit_cred_printf(u, word, &id);
         if (r < 0) {
                 log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, r, "Failed to resolve unit specifiers in \"%s\", ignoring: %m", word);
                 return 0;
         }
-        if (!credential_name_valid(k)) {
-                log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, 0, "Credential name \"%s\" not valid, ignoring.", k);
+        if (!credential_name_valid(id)) {
+                log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, 0, "Credential name \"%s\" not valid, ignoring.", id);
                 return 0;
         }
 
         if (isempty(p)) {
                 /* If only one field is specified take it as shortcut for inheriting a credential named
                  * the same way from our parent */
-                q = strdup(k);
-                if (!q)
+                path = strdup(id);
+                if (!path)
                         return log_oom();
         } else {
-                r = unit_path_printf(u, p, &q);
+                r = unit_path_printf(u, p, &path);
                 if (r < 0) {
                         log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, r, "Failed to resolve unit specifiers in \"%s\", ignoring: %m", p);
                         return 0;
                 }
-                if (path_is_absolute(q) ? !path_is_normalized(q) : !credential_name_valid(q)) {
-                        log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, 0, "Credential source \"%s\" not valid, ignoring.", q);
+                if (path_is_absolute(path) ? !path_is_normalized(path) : !credential_name_valid(path)) {
+                        log_syntax(unit, LOG_WARNING, filename, line, 0, "Credential source \"%s\" not valid, ignoring.", path);
                         return 0;
                 }
         }
 
-        r = hashmap_put_credential(&context->load_credentials, k, q, encrypted);
+        r = hashmap_put_credential(&context->load_credentials, id, path, encrypted);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to store load credential '%s': %m", rvalue);