diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner-cassandra/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/adapter/Launcher.java b/google-cloud-spanner-cassandra/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/adapter/Launcher.java
index 0b57dc0e..9fd88192 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner-cassandra/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/adapter/Launcher.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner-cassandra/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/adapter/Launcher.java
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ public class Launcher {
   }
 
   void launch() {
-    healthCheckServer.start();
+    if (healthCheckServer != null) {
+      healthCheckServer.start();
+    }
     adapter.start();
 
     Runtime.getRuntime()