diff --git a/pkg/server/image_pull.go b/pkg/server/image_pull.go
index daa388481..942dcbeea 100644
--- a/pkg/server/image_pull.go
+++ b/pkg/server/image_pull.go
@@ -187,7 +187,8 @@ func ParseAuth(auth *runtime.AuthConfig, host string) (string, string, error) {
 		return user, strings.Trim(passwd, "\x00"), nil
 	}
 	// TODO(random-liu): Support RegistryToken.
-	return "", "", errors.New("invalid auth config")
+	// An empty auth config is valid for anonymous registry
+	return "", "", nil
 }
 
 // createImageReference creates image reference inside containerd image store.
diff --git a/pkg/server/image_pull_test.go b/pkg/server/image_pull_test.go
index 91908c731..3a6377ca0 100644
--- a/pkg/server/image_pull_test.go
+++ b/pkg/server/image_pull_test.go
@@ -42,9 +42,9 @@ func TestParseAuth(t *testing.T) {
 		expectErr      bool
 	}{
 		"should not return error if auth config is nil": {},
-		"should return error if no supported auth is provided": {
+		"should not return error if empty auth is provided for access to anonymous registry": {
 			auth:      &runtime.AuthConfig{},
-			expectErr: true,
+			expectErr: false,
 		},
 		"should support identity token": {
 			auth:           &runtime.AuthConfig{IdentityToken: "abcd"},