diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java
index d74e813c764b..a55ba95d8f02 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/HRegionServer.java
@@ -473,7 +473,7 @@ public class HRegionServer extends HBaseServerBase<RSRpcServices>
 
   private FileSystemUtilizationChore fsUtilizationChore;
 
-  private BootstrapNodeManager bootstrapNodeManager;
+  private volatile BootstrapNodeManager bootstrapNodeManager;
 
   /**
    * True if this RegionServer is coming up in a cluster where there is no Master; means it needs to
@@ -3729,7 +3729,10 @@ public List<ServerName> getBackupMasters() {
 
   @Override
   public Iterator<ServerName> getBootstrapNodes() {
-    return bootstrapNodeManager.getBootstrapNodes().iterator();
+    BootstrapNodeManager manager = bootstrapNodeManager;
+    return manager != null
+      ? manager.getBootstrapNodes().iterator()
+      : Collections.<ServerName> emptyList().iterator();
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBootstrapNodeManager.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBootstrapNodeManager.java
index 40056c70cf20..d140a7e2f689 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBootstrapNodeManager.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestBootstrapNodeManager.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.hasItems;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
 import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyInt;
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.atLeast;
@@ -87,6 +88,13 @@ private void assertListEquals(List<ServerName> expected, List<ServerName> actual
     assertThat(actual, hasItems(expected.toArray(new ServerName[0])));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testGetBootstrapNodesBeforeInitialization() {
+    HRegionServer regionServer = mock(HRegionServer.class);
+    when(regionServer.getBootstrapNodes()).thenCallRealMethod();
+    assertFalse(regionServer.getBootstrapNodes().hasNext());
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testNormal() throws Exception {
     List<ServerName> regionServers =