diff --git a/builtin/logical/pki/cert_util.go b/builtin/logical/pki/cert_util.go
index efd030acc1a2..8fadc312aef9 100644
--- a/builtin/logical/pki/cert_util.go
+++ b/builtin/logical/pki/cert_util.go
@@ -143,13 +143,6 @@ func fetchCAInfoByIssuerId(ctx context.Context, b *backend, req *logical.Request
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, errutil.InternalError{Err: fmt.Sprintf("unable to fetch URL information: %v", err)}
 	}
-	if entries == nil {
-		entries = &certutil.URLEntries{
-			IssuingCertificates:   []string{},
-			CRLDistributionPoints: []string{},
-			OCSPServers:           []string{},
-		}
-	}
 	caInfo.URLs = entries
 
 	return caInfo, nil
@@ -633,13 +626,6 @@ func generateCert(ctx context.Context,
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, errutil.InternalError{Err: fmt.Sprintf("unable to fetch URL information: %v", err)}
 			}
-			if entries == nil {
-				entries = &certutil.URLEntries{
-					IssuingCertificates:   []string{},
-					CRLDistributionPoints: []string{},
-					OCSPServers:           []string{},
-				}
-			}
 			data.Params.URLs = entries
 
 			if input.role.MaxPathLength == nil {
diff --git a/builtin/logical/pki/crl_util.go b/builtin/logical/pki/crl_util.go
index c910fdc3a9d0..c9509125e259 100644
--- a/builtin/logical/pki/crl_util.go
+++ b/builtin/logical/pki/crl_util.go
@@ -569,28 +569,26 @@ func buildCRL(ctx context.Context, b *backend, req *logical.Request, forceNew bo
 	crlLifetime := b.crlLifetime
 	var revokedCerts []pkix.RevokedCertificate
 
-	if crlInfo != nil {
-		if crlInfo.Expiry != "" {
-			crlDur, err := time.ParseDuration(crlInfo.Expiry)
-			if err != nil {
-				return errutil.InternalError{Err: fmt.Sprintf("error parsing CRL duration of %s", crlInfo.Expiry)}
-			}
-			crlLifetime = crlDur
+	if crlInfo.Expiry != "" {
+		crlDur, err := time.ParseDuration(crlInfo.Expiry)
+		if err != nil {
+			return errutil.InternalError{Err: fmt.Sprintf("error parsing CRL duration of %s", crlInfo.Expiry)}
 		}
+		crlLifetime = crlDur
+	}
 
-		if crlInfo.Disable {
-			if !forceNew {
-				return nil
-			}
-
-			// NOTE: in this case, the passed argument (revoked) is not added
-			// to the revokedCerts list. This is because we want to sign an
-			// **empty** CRL (as the CRL was disabled but we've specified the
-			// forceNew option). In previous versions of Vault (1.10 series and
-			// earlier), we'd have queried the certs below, whereas we now have
-			// an assignment from a pre-queried list.
-			goto WRITE
+	if crlInfo.Disable {
+		if !forceNew {
+			return nil
 		}
+
+		// NOTE: in this case, the passed argument (revoked) is not added
+		// to the revokedCerts list. This is because we want to sign an
+		// **empty** CRL (as the CRL was disabled but we've specified the
+		// forceNew option). In previous versions of Vault (1.10 series and
+		// earlier), we'd have queried the certs below, whereas we now have
+		// an assignment from a pre-queried list.
+		goto WRITE
 	}
 
 	revokedCerts = revoked
diff --git a/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_crl.go b/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_crl.go
index 7555fc6833eb..5692e4eb5bbc 100644
--- a/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_crl.go
+++ b/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_crl.go
@@ -54,11 +54,15 @@ func (b *backend) CRL(ctx context.Context, s logical.Storage) (*crlConfig, error
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
+	var result crlConfig
+	result.Expiry = b.crlLifetime.String()
+	result.Disable = false
+
 	if entry == nil {
-		return nil, nil
+		return &result, nil
 	}
 
-	var result crlConfig
 	if err := entry.DecodeJSON(&result); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -71,9 +75,6 @@ func (b *backend) pathCRLRead(ctx context.Context, req *logical.Request, _ *fram
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if config == nil {
-		return nil, nil
-	}
 
 	return &logical.Response{
 		Data: map[string]interface{}{
@@ -88,9 +89,6 @@ func (b *backend) pathCRLWrite(ctx context.Context, req *logical.Request, d *fra
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if config == nil {
-		config = &crlConfig{}
-	}
 
 	if expiryRaw, ok := d.GetOk("expiry"); ok {
 		expiry := expiryRaw.(string)
diff --git a/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_urls.go b/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_urls.go
index 2d1840997109..f27d541d6770 100644
--- a/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_urls.go
+++ b/builtin/logical/pki/path_config_urls.go
@@ -63,16 +63,22 @@ func getURLs(ctx context.Context, req *logical.Request) (*certutil.URLEntries, e
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
+	entries := &certutil.URLEntries{
+		IssuingCertificates:   []string{},
+		CRLDistributionPoints: []string{},
+		OCSPServers:           []string{},
+	}
+
 	if entry == nil {
-		return nil, nil
+		return entries, nil
 	}
 
-	var entries certutil.URLEntries
-	if err := entry.DecodeJSON(&entries); err != nil {
+	if err := entry.DecodeJSON(entries); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	return &entries, nil
+	return entries, nil
 }
 
 func writeURLs(ctx context.Context, req *logical.Request, entries *certutil.URLEntries) error {
@@ -97,9 +103,6 @@ func (b *backend) pathReadURL(ctx context.Context, req *logical.Request, _ *fram
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if entries == nil {
-		return nil, nil
-	}
 
 	resp := &logical.Response{
 		Data: structs.New(entries).Map(),
@@ -113,13 +116,6 @@ func (b *backend) pathWriteURL(ctx context.Context, req *logical.Request, data *
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	if entries == nil {
-		entries = &certutil.URLEntries{
-			IssuingCertificates:   []string{},
-			CRLDistributionPoints: []string{},
-			OCSPServers:           []string{},
-		}
-	}
 
 	if urlsInt, ok := data.GetOk("issuing_certificates"); ok {
 		entries.IssuingCertificates = urlsInt.([]string)
diff --git a/changelog/15470.txt b/changelog/15470.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2fbaede96bb5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/15470.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+secrets/pki: Always return CRLs, URLs configurations, even if using the default value.
+```