diff --git a/authority/authority.go b/authority/authority.go
index 4318246b..e6044e4d 100644
--- a/authority/authority.go
+++ b/authority/authority.go
@@ -262,13 +262,22 @@ func (a *Authority) ReloadAdminResources(ctx context.Context) error {
 	a.config.AuthorityConfig.Admins = adminList
 	a.admins = adminClxn
 
-	// update the SCEP Authority with the currently active SCEP
-	// provisioner names and revalidate the configuration.
-	if a.scepAuthority != nil {
+	switch {
+	case a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() == nil:
+		// TODO(hs): try to initialize SCEP here too? It's a bit
+		// problematic if this method is called as part of an update
+		// via Admin API and a password needs to be provided.
+	case a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() != nil:
+		// update the SCEP Authority with the currently active SCEP
+		// provisioner names and revalidate the configuration.
 		a.scepAuthority.UpdateProvisioners(a.getSCEPProvisionerNames())
 		if err := a.scepAuthority.Validate(); err != nil {
 			log.Printf("failed validating SCEP authority: %v\n", err)
 		}
+	case !a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() != nil:
+		// TODO(hs): don't remove the authority if we can't also
+		// reload it.
+		//a.scepAuthority = nil
 	}
 
 	return nil
@@ -651,14 +660,17 @@ func (a *Authority) init() error {
 	}
 
 	// The SCEP functionality is provided through an instance of
-	// scep.Authority. It is initialized once when the CA is started.
-	// TODO(hs): should the SCEP Authority support reloading? For example,
-	// when the admin resources are reloaded, specifically the provisioners,
-	// it can happen that the SCEP Authority is no longer required and can
-	// be destroyed, or that it needs to be instantiated. It may also need
-	// to be revalidated, because not all SCEP provisioner may have a
-	// valid decrypter available.
-	if a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() == nil {
+	// scep.Authority. It is initialized when the CA is started and
+	// if it doesn't exist yet. It gets refreshed if it already
+	// exists. If the SCEP authority is no longer required on reload,
+	// it gets removed.
+	// TODO(hs): reloading through SIGHUP doesn't hit these cases. This
+	// is because an entirely new authority.Authority is created, including
+	// a new scep.Authority. Look into this to see if we want this to
+	// keep working like that, or want to reuse a single instance and
+	// update that.
+	switch {
+	case a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() == nil:
 		var options scep.Options
 		options.Roots = a.rootX509Certs
 		options.Intermediates, err = pemutil.ReadCertificateBundle(a.config.IntermediateCert)
@@ -698,15 +710,28 @@ func (a *Authority) init() error {
 		options.SCEPProvisionerNames = a.getSCEPProvisionerNames()
 
 		// create a new SCEP authority
-		a.scepAuthority, err = scep.New(a, options)
+		scepAuthority, err := scep.New(a, options)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 
 		// validate the SCEP authority
-		if err := a.scepAuthority.Validate(); err != nil {
+		if err := scepAuthority.Validate(); err != nil {
 			a.initLogf("failed validating SCEP authority: %v", err)
 		}
+
+		// set the SCEP authority
+		a.scepAuthority = scepAuthority
+	case !a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() != nil:
+		// clear the SCEP authority if it's no longer required
+		a.scepAuthority = nil
+	case a.requiresSCEP() && a.GetSCEP() != nil:
+		// update the SCEP Authority with the currently active SCEP
+		// provisioner names and revalidate the configuration.
+		a.scepAuthority.UpdateProvisioners(a.getSCEPProvisionerNames())
+		if err := a.scepAuthority.Validate(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("failed validating SCEP authority: %v\n", err)
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Load X509 constraints engine.
@@ -869,12 +894,15 @@ func (a *Authority) requiresSCEP() bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+// getSCEPProvisionerNames returns the names of the SCEP provisioners
+// that are currently available in the CA.
 func (a *Authority) getSCEPProvisionerNames() (names []string) {
 	for _, p := range a.config.AuthorityConfig.Provisioners {
 		if p.GetType() == provisioner.TypeSCEP {
 			names = append(names, p.GetName())
 		}
 	}
+
 	return
 }
 
diff --git a/ca/ca.go b/ca/ca.go
index c13496a6..911cb2d7 100644
--- a/ca/ca.go
+++ b/ca/ca.go
@@ -250,19 +250,9 @@ func (ca *CA) Init(cfg *config.Config) (*CA, error) {
 
 	var scepAuthority *scep.Authority
 	if ca.shouldServeSCEPEndpoints() {
-		// validate the SCEP authority configuration. Currently this
-		// will not result in a failure to start if one or more SCEP
-		// provisioners are not correctly configured. Only a log will
-		// be emitted.
+		// get the SCEP authority configuration. Validation is
+		// performed within the authority instantiation process.
 		scepAuthority = auth.GetSCEP()
-		if err := scepAuthority.Validate(); err != nil {
-			err = errors.Wrap(err, "failed validating SCEP authority")
-			shouldFail := false
-			if shouldFail {
-				return nil, err
-			}
-			log.Println(err)
-		}
 
 		// According to the RFC (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8894#section-7.10),
 		// SCEP operations are performed using HTTP, so that's why the API is mounted
diff --git a/scep/authority.go b/scep/authority.go
index b0a5420a..60141191 100644
--- a/scep/authority.go
+++ b/scep/authority.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"sync"
 
 	microx509util "github.com/micromdm/scep/v2/cryptoutil/x509util"
 	microscep "github.com/micromdm/scep/v2/scep"
@@ -25,6 +26,8 @@ type Authority struct {
 	signer               crypto.Signer
 	defaultDecrypter     crypto.Decrypter
 	scepProvisionerNames []string
+
+	mu sync.RWMutex
 }
 
 type authorityKey struct{}
@@ -77,6 +80,13 @@ func New(signAuth SignAuthority, opts Options) (*Authority, error) {
 // The validation includes a check if a decrypter is available, either
 // an authority wide decrypter, or a provisioner specific decrypter.
 func (a *Authority) Validate() error {
+	if a == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	a.mu.RLock()
+	defer a.mu.RUnlock()
+
 	noDefaultDecrypterAvailable := a.defaultDecrypter == nil
 	for _, name := range a.scepProvisionerNames {
 		p, err := a.LoadProvisionerByName(name)
@@ -102,6 +112,13 @@ func (a *Authority) Validate() error {
 // current SCEP provisioners configured. This allows the Authority to be
 // validated with the latest data.
 func (a *Authority) UpdateProvisioners(scepProvisionerNames []string) {
+	if a == nil {
+		return
+	}
+
+	a.mu.Lock()
+	defer a.mu.Unlock()
+
 	a.scepProvisionerNames = scepProvisionerNames
 }