diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManager.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManager.scala
index 759d857d56e0e..f769ce468e49c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManager.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManager.scala
@@ -140,13 +140,21 @@ private[spark] class HadoopDelegationTokenManager(
    * @param creds Credentials object where to store the delegation tokens.
    */
   def obtainDelegationTokens(creds: Credentials): Unit = {
-    val freshUGI = doLogin()
-    freshUGI.doAs(new PrivilegedExceptionAction[Unit]() {
-      override def run(): Unit = {
-        val (newTokens, _) = obtainDelegationTokens()
-        creds.addAll(newTokens)
-      }
-    })
+    val currentUser = UserGroupInformation.getCurrentUser()
+    val hasKerberosCreds = principal != null ||
+      Option(currentUser.getRealUser()).getOrElse(currentUser).hasKerberosCredentials()
+
+    // Delegation tokens can only be obtained if the real user has Kerberos credentials, so
+    // skip creation when those are not available.
+    if (hasKerberosCreds) {
+      val freshUGI = doLogin()
+      freshUGI.doAs(new PrivilegedExceptionAction[Unit]() {
+        override def run(): Unit = {
+          val (newTokens, _) = obtainDelegationTokens()
+          creds.addAll(newTokens)
+        }
+      })
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/CoarseGrainedSchedulerBackend.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/CoarseGrainedSchedulerBackend.scala
index d81070c362ba6..c9b408bed1163 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/CoarseGrainedSchedulerBackend.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/cluster/CoarseGrainedSchedulerBackend.scala
@@ -427,12 +427,14 @@ class CoarseGrainedSchedulerBackend(scheduler: TaskSchedulerImpl, val rpcEnv: Rp
         val ugi = UserGroupInformation.getCurrentUser()
         val tokens = if (dtm.renewalEnabled) {
           dtm.start()
-        } else if (ugi.hasKerberosCredentials() || SparkHadoopUtil.get.isProxyUser(ugi)) {
+        } else {
           val creds = ugi.getCredentials()
           dtm.obtainDelegationTokens(creds)
-          SparkHadoopUtil.get.serialize(creds)
-        } else {
-          null
+          if (creds.numberOfTokens() > 0 || creds.numberOfSecretKeys() > 0) {
+            SparkHadoopUtil.get.serialize(creds)
+          } else {
+            null
+          }
         }
         if (tokens != null) {
           updateDelegationTokens(tokens)
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManagerSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManagerSuite.scala
index 70174f7ff939a..bf53386da6304 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManagerSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/security/HadoopDelegationTokenManagerSuite.scala
@@ -17,10 +17,14 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark.deploy.security
 
+import java.security.PrivilegedExceptionAction
+
 import org.apache.hadoop.conf.Configuration
-import org.apache.hadoop.security.Credentials
+import org.apache.hadoop.fs.CommonConfigurationKeysPublic.HADOOP_SECURITY_AUTHENTICATION
+import org.apache.hadoop.security.{Credentials, UserGroupInformation}
 
 import org.apache.spark.{SparkConf, SparkFunSuite}
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkHadoopUtil
 import org.apache.spark.security.HadoopDelegationTokenProvider
 
 private class ExceptionThrowingDelegationTokenProvider extends HadoopDelegationTokenProvider {
@@ -69,4 +73,37 @@ class HadoopDelegationTokenManagerSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     assert(!manager.isProviderLoaded("hadoopfs"))
     assert(manager.isProviderLoaded("hbase"))
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-29082: do not fail if current user does not have credentials") {
+    // SparkHadoopUtil overrides the UGI configuration during initialization. That normally
+    // happens early in the Spark application, but here it may affect the test depending on
+    // how it's run, so force its initialization.
+    SparkHadoopUtil.get
+
+    val krbConf = new Configuration()
+    krbConf.set(HADOOP_SECURITY_AUTHENTICATION, "kerberos")
+
+    UserGroupInformation.setConfiguration(krbConf)
+    try {
+      val manager = new HadoopDelegationTokenManager(new SparkConf(false), krbConf, null)
+      val testImpl = new PrivilegedExceptionAction[Unit] {
+        override def run(): Unit = {
+          assert(UserGroupInformation.isSecurityEnabled())
+          val creds = new Credentials()
+          manager.obtainDelegationTokens(creds)
+          assert(creds.numberOfTokens() === 0)
+          assert(creds.numberOfSecretKeys() === 0)
+        }
+      }
+
+      val realUser = UserGroupInformation.createUserForTesting("realUser", Array.empty)
+      realUser.doAs(testImpl)
+
+      val proxyUser = UserGroupInformation.createProxyUserForTesting("proxyUser", realUser,
+        Array.empty)
+      proxyUser.doAs(testImpl)
+    } finally {
+      UserGroupInformation.reset()
+    }
+  }
 }