diff --git a/src/OpenIddict.Client.AspNetCore/OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler.cs b/src/OpenIddict.Client.AspNetCore/OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler.cs
index 2d546cde..3aa88910 100644
--- a/src/OpenIddict.Client.AspNetCore/OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler.cs
+++ b/src/OpenIddict.Client.AspNetCore/OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler.cs
@@ -135,6 +135,14 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Op
 
         else if (context.IsRejected)
         {
+            // Note: the missing_token error is special-cased to indicate to ASP.NET Core
+            // that no authentication result could be produced due to the lack of token.
+            // This also helps reducing the logging noise when no token is specified.
+            if (string.Equals(context.Error, Errors.MissingToken, StringComparison.Ordinal))
+            {
+                return AuthenticateResult.NoResult();
+            }
+
             var properties = new AuthenticationProperties(new Dictionary<string, string?>
             {
                 [Properties.Error] = context.Error,
@@ -147,11 +155,6 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Op
 
         else
         {
-            if (context.MergedPrincipal is not ClaimsPrincipal principal)
-            {
-                return AuthenticateResult.NoResult();
-            }
-
             // Restore or create a new authentication properties collection and populate it.
             var properties = CreateProperties(context.StateTokenPrincipal);
             properties.ExpiresUtc = context.StateTokenPrincipal?.GetExpirationDate();
@@ -314,7 +317,8 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Op
                 properties.SetParameter(Properties.UserinfoTokenPrincipal, context.UserinfoTokenPrincipal);
             }
 
-            return AuthenticateResult.Success(new AuthenticationTicket(principal, properties,
+            return AuthenticateResult.Success(new AuthenticationTicket(
+                context.MergedPrincipal ?? new ClaimsPrincipal(new ClaimsIdentity()), properties,
                 OpenIddictClientAspNetCoreDefaults.AuthenticationScheme));
 
             static AuthenticationProperties CreateProperties(ClaimsPrincipal? principal)
diff --git a/src/OpenIddict.Client.Owin/OpenIddictClientOwinHandler.cs b/src/OpenIddict.Client.Owin/OpenIddictClientOwinHandler.cs
index 25853042..eaf0dd20 100644
--- a/src/OpenIddict.Client.Owin/OpenIddictClientOwinHandler.cs
+++ b/src/OpenIddict.Client.Owin/OpenIddictClientOwinHandler.cs
@@ -168,11 +168,6 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictClientOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<OpenIddi
 
         else
         {
-            if (context.MergedPrincipal is not ClaimsPrincipal principal)
-            {
-                return null;
-            }
-
             // Restore or create a new authentication properties collection and populate it.
             var properties = CreateProperties(context.StateTokenPrincipal);
             properties.ExpiresUtc = context.StateTokenPrincipal?.GetExpirationDate();
@@ -240,7 +235,7 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictClientOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<OpenIddi
                 properties.Dictionary[Tokens.UserinfoToken] = context.UserinfoToken;
             }
 
-            return new AuthenticationTicket((ClaimsIdentity) principal.Identity, properties);
+            return new AuthenticationTicket(context.MergedPrincipal?.Identity as ClaimsIdentity, properties);
 
             static AuthenticationProperties CreateProperties(ClaimsPrincipal? principal)
             {
@@ -270,7 +265,7 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictClientOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<OpenIddi
     /// <inheritdoc/>
     protected override async Task TeardownCoreAsync()
     {
-        // Note: OWIN authentication handlers cannot reliabily write to the response stream
+        // Note: OWIN authentication handlers cannot reliably write to the response stream
         // from ApplyResponseGrantAsync() or ApplyResponseChallengeAsync() because these methods
         // are susceptible to be invoked from AuthenticationHandler.OnSendingHeaderCallback(),
         // where calling Write() or WriteAsync() on the response stream may result in a deadlock
diff --git a/src/OpenIddict.Server.AspNetCore/OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreHandler.cs b/src/OpenIddict.Server.AspNetCore/OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreHandler.cs
index 847fa2be..10bc310e 100644
--- a/src/OpenIddict.Server.AspNetCore/OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreHandler.cs
+++ b/src/OpenIddict.Server.AspNetCore/OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreHandler.cs
@@ -186,15 +186,10 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Op
                 _ => null
             };
 
-            if (principal is null)
-            {
-                return AuthenticateResult.NoResult();
-            }
-
             // Restore or create a new authentication properties collection and populate it.
             var properties = CreateProperties(principal);
-            properties.ExpiresUtc = principal.GetExpirationDate();
-            properties.IssuedUtc = principal.GetCreationDate();
+            properties.ExpiresUtc = principal?.GetExpirationDate();
+            properties.IssuedUtc = principal?.GetCreationDate();
 
             List<AuthenticationToken>? tokens = null;
 
@@ -311,7 +306,8 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Op
                 properties.StoreTokens(tokens);
             }
 
-            return AuthenticateResult.Success(new AuthenticationTicket(principal, properties,
+            return AuthenticateResult.Success(new AuthenticationTicket(
+                principal ?? new ClaimsPrincipal(new ClaimsIdentity()), properties,
                 OpenIddictServerAspNetCoreDefaults.AuthenticationScheme));
         }
 
diff --git a/src/OpenIddict.Server.Owin/OpenIddictServerOwinHandler.cs b/src/OpenIddict.Server.Owin/OpenIddictServerOwinHandler.cs
index 9ca7f0a1..7c17632c 100644
--- a/src/OpenIddict.Server.Owin/OpenIddictServerOwinHandler.cs
+++ b/src/OpenIddict.Server.Owin/OpenIddictServerOwinHandler.cs
@@ -192,15 +192,10 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictServerOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<OpenIddi
                 _ => null
             };
 
-            if (principal is null)
-            {
-                return null;
-            }
-
             // Restore or create a new authentication properties collection and populate it.
             var properties = CreateProperties(principal);
-            properties.ExpiresUtc = principal.GetExpirationDate();
-            properties.IssuedUtc = principal.GetCreationDate();
+            properties.ExpiresUtc = principal?.GetExpirationDate();
+            properties.IssuedUtc = principal?.GetCreationDate();
 
             // Attach the tokens to allow any OWIN component (e.g a controller)
             // to retrieve them (e.g to make an API request to another application).
@@ -240,7 +235,7 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictServerOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<OpenIddi
                 properties.Dictionary[Tokens.UserCode] = context.UserCode;
             }
 
-            return new AuthenticationTicket((ClaimsIdentity) principal.Identity, properties);
+            return new AuthenticationTicket(principal?.Identity as ClaimsIdentity, properties);
         }
 
         static AuthenticationProperties CreateProperties(ClaimsPrincipal? principal)
@@ -270,7 +265,7 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictServerOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<OpenIddi
     /// <inheritdoc/>
     protected override async Task TeardownCoreAsync()
     {
-        // Note: OWIN authentication handlers cannot reliabily write to the response stream
+        // Note: OWIN authentication handlers cannot reliably write to the response stream
         // from ApplyResponseGrantAsync() or ApplyResponseChallengeAsync() because these methods
         // are susceptible to be invoked from AuthenticationHandler.OnSendingHeaderCallback(),
         // where calling Write() or WriteAsync() on the response stream may result in a deadlock
diff --git a/src/OpenIddict.Validation.AspNetCore/OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreHandler.cs b/src/OpenIddict.Validation.AspNetCore/OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreHandler.cs
index ee977f81..5f7949b9 100644
--- a/src/OpenIddict.Validation.AspNetCore/OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreHandler.cs
+++ b/src/OpenIddict.Validation.AspNetCore/OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreHandler.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 using System.ComponentModel;
+using System.Security.Claims;
 using System.Text.Encodings.Web;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
@@ -162,15 +163,10 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandle
                 _ => null
             };
 
-            if (principal is null)
-            {
-                return AuthenticateResult.NoResult();
-            }
-
             var properties = new AuthenticationProperties
             {
-                ExpiresUtc = principal.GetExpirationDate(),
-                IssuedUtc = principal.GetCreationDate()
+                ExpiresUtc = principal?.GetExpirationDate(),
+                IssuedUtc = principal?.GetCreationDate()
             };
 
             List<AuthenticationToken>? tokens = null;
@@ -198,7 +194,8 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreHandler : AuthenticationHandle
                 properties.StoreTokens(tokens);
             }
 
-            return AuthenticateResult.Success(new AuthenticationTicket(principal, properties,
+            return AuthenticateResult.Success(new AuthenticationTicket(
+                principal ?? new ClaimsPrincipal(new ClaimsIdentity()), properties,
                 OpenIddictValidationAspNetCoreDefaults.AuthenticationScheme));
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/OpenIddict.Validation.Owin/OpenIddictValidationOwinHandler.cs b/src/OpenIddict.Validation.Owin/OpenIddictValidationOwinHandler.cs
index 93b5e653..8d81df9b 100644
--- a/src/OpenIddict.Validation.Owin/OpenIddictValidationOwinHandler.cs
+++ b/src/OpenIddict.Validation.Owin/OpenIddictValidationOwinHandler.cs
@@ -170,15 +170,10 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictValidationOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Open
                 _ => null
             };
 
-            if (principal is null)
-            {
-                return null;
-            }
-
             var properties = new AuthenticationProperties
             {
-                ExpiresUtc = principal.GetExpirationDate(),
-                IssuedUtc = principal.GetCreationDate()
+                ExpiresUtc = principal?.GetExpirationDate(),
+                IssuedUtc = principal?.GetCreationDate()
             };
 
             // Attach the tokens to allow any OWIN/Katana component (e.g a controller)
@@ -189,14 +184,14 @@ public sealed class OpenIddictValidationOwinHandler : AuthenticationHandler<Open
                 properties.Dictionary[TokenTypeHints.AccessToken] = context.AccessToken;
             }
 
-            return new AuthenticationTicket((ClaimsIdentity) principal.Identity, properties);
+            return new AuthenticationTicket(principal?.Identity as ClaimsIdentity, properties);
         }
     }
 
     /// <inheritdoc/>
     protected override async Task TeardownCoreAsync()
     {
-        // Note: OWIN authentication handlers cannot reliabily write to the response stream
+        // Note: OWIN authentication handlers cannot reliably write to the response stream
         // from ApplyResponseGrantAsync() or ApplyResponseChallengeAsync() because these methods
         // are susceptible to be invoked from AuthenticationHandler.OnSendingHeaderCallback(),
         // where calling Write() or WriteAsync() on the response stream may result in a deadlock