diff --git a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack.go b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack.go
index 5f2e6925cbb..9b3a7d3272d 100644
--- a/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack.go
+++ b/pkg/cloudprovider/providers/openstack/openstack.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
+	"reflect"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -573,6 +574,11 @@ func (os *OpenStack) HasClusterID() bool {
 func (os *OpenStack) LoadBalancer() (cloudprovider.LoadBalancer, bool) {
 	glog.V(4).Info("openstack.LoadBalancer() called")
 
+	if reflect.DeepEqual(os.lbOpts, LoadBalancerOpts{}) {
+		glog.V(4).Info("LoadBalancer section is empty/not defined in cloud-config")
+		return nil, false
+	}
+
 	network, err := os.NewNetworkV2()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, false