diff --git sandbox/policy/win/sandbox_win.cc sandbox/policy/win/sandbox_win.cc
index b1ec529d260a9..d84c44e6e0412 100644
--- sandbox/policy/win/sandbox_win.cc
+++ sandbox/policy/win/sandbox_win.cc
@@ -1131,6 +1131,13 @@ ResultCode SandboxWin::StartSandboxedProcess(
     const base::HandlesToInheritVector& handles_to_inherit,
     SandboxDelegate* delegate,
     base::Process* process) {
+  // Will be nullptr if SandboxInterfaceInfo was not initialized by the CEF
+  // client, meaning that the sandbox is implicitly disabled.
+  if (!g_broker_services) {
+    return LaunchWithoutSandbox(cmd_line, handles_to_inherit, delegate,
+                                process);
+  }
+
   const base::ElapsedTimer timer;
   auto policy = g_broker_services->CreatePolicy();
   auto time_policy_created = timer.Elapsed();