diff --git a/lib/resty/openidc.lua b/lib/resty/openidc.lua
index be74fc7..8ce6ff1 100644
--- a/lib/resty/openidc.lua
+++ b/lib/resty/openidc.lua
@@ -91,6 +91,14 @@ local function store_in_session(opts, feature)
   return opts.session_contents[feature]
 end
 
+local function is_session(o)
+  return o ~= nil and o.save and type(o.save) == "function"
+end
+
+local function is_session_present(session)
+  return session ~= nil and next(session:get_data()) ~= nil
+end
+
 -- set value in server-wide cache if available
 local function openidc_cache_set(type, key, value, exp)
   local dict = ngx.shared[type]
@@ -1294,7 +1302,9 @@ local function openidc_logout(opts, session)
     end
   end
 
-  session:destroy()
+  if is_session_present(session) then
+    session:destroy()
+  end
 
   if opts.revoke_tokens_on_logout then
     log(DEBUG, "revoke_tokens_on_logout is enabled. " ..
@@ -1449,10 +1459,6 @@ local function openidc_get_redirect_uri_path(opts)
   return opts.redirect_uri and openidc_get_path(opts.redirect_uri) or opts.redirect_uri_path
 end
 
-local function is_session(o)
-  return o ~= nil and o.save and type(o.save) == "function"
-end
-
 -- main routine for OpenID Connect user authentication
 function openidc.authenticate(opts, target_url, unauth_action, session_or_opts)
 
@@ -1474,7 +1480,7 @@ function openidc.authenticate(opts, target_url, unauth_action, session_or_opts)
     end
   end
 
-  local session_present = next(session:get_data()) ~= nil
+  local session_present = is_session_present(session)
 
   target_url = target_url or ngx.var.request_uri
 
diff --git a/tests/spec/logout_spec.lua b/tests/spec/logout_spec.lua
index cc2cf2d..7774cae 100644
--- a/tests/spec/logout_spec.lua
+++ b/tests/spec/logout_spec.lua
@@ -552,3 +552,22 @@ describe("when revoke_tokens_on_logout is not defined and a revocation_endpoint
     assert.is_not.error_log_contains("revoke")
   end)
 end)
+
+describe("when the configured logout uri is invoked with no active session", function()
+  test_support.start_server()
+  teardown(test_support.stop_server)
+  local _, status, headers = http.request({
+                                            url = "http://127.0.0.1/default/logout",
+                                            redirect = false
+                                          })
+  local log = test_support.load("/tmp/server/logs/error.log")
+  print("Error log: \n" .. log)
+  it("the response contains a default HTML-page", function()
+    assert.are.equals(200, status)
+    assert.are.equals("text/html", headers["content-type"])
+    -- TODO should there be a Cache-Control header?
+  end)
+  it("the session cookie has been revoked", function()
+    assert.is.Nil(headers["set-cookie"])
+  end)
+end)