diff --git a/cmd/sops/main.go b/cmd/sops/main.go
index fb41be60a..405565834 100644
--- a/cmd/sops/main.go
+++ b/cmd/sops/main.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main // import "github.com/getsops/sops/v3/cmd/sops"
 import (
 	"context"
 	encodingjson "encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net"
@@ -2516,6 +2517,16 @@ func keyGroups(c *cli.Context, file string, optionalConfig *config.Config) ([]so
 	return []sops.KeyGroup{group}, nil
 }
 
+func hasInlineMasterKeyFlags(c *cli.Context) bool {
+	return c.String("kms") != "" ||
+		c.String("pgp") != "" ||
+		c.String("gcp-kms") != "" ||
+		c.String("hckms") != "" ||
+		c.String("azure-kv") != "" ||
+		c.String("hc-vault-transit") != "" ||
+		c.String("age") != ""
+}
+
 // loadConfig will look for an existing config file, either provided through the command line, or using findConfigFile
 // Since a config file is not required, this function does not error when one is not found, and instead returns a nil config pointer
 func loadConfig(c *cli.Context, file string, kmsEncryptionContext map[string]*string) (*config.Config, error) {
@@ -2531,6 +2542,9 @@ func loadConfig(c *cli.Context, file string, kmsEncryptionContext map[string]*st
 	}
 	conf, err := config.LoadCreationRuleForFile(configPath, file, kmsEncryptionContext)
 	if err != nil {
+		if hasInlineMasterKeyFlags(c) && errors.Is(err, config.ErrNoMatchingCreationRules) {
+			return nil, nil
+		}
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return conf, nil
diff --git a/cmd/sops/main_test.go b/cmd/sops/main_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..66f2d28e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/sops/main_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/getsops/sops/v3/config"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli"
+)
+
+const nonMatchingCreationRuleConfig = `creation_rules:
+  - path_regex: something-else/.*\.(json|yaml|yml|env|txt)$
+    age: age15sq7kls08hzq8djpn26dda0fna3ccnw038568gcul9amjjjdaedq4xg2rr
+`
+
+const matchingCreationRuleConfig = `creation_rules:
+  - path_regex: ""
+    age: age15sq7kls08hzq8djpn26dda0fna3ccnw038568gcul9amjjjdaedq4xg2rr
+`
+
+func newTestCLIContext(t *testing.T, configPath string, inlineFlags map[string]string) *cli.Context {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	app := cli.NewApp()
+
+	globalSet := flag.NewFlagSet("global", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	globalSet.String("config", "", "")
+	require.NoError(t, globalSet.Set("config", configPath))
+	globalCtx := cli.NewContext(app, globalSet, nil)
+
+	localSet := flag.NewFlagSet("local", flag.ContinueOnError)
+	for _, name := range []string{"kms", "pgp", "gcp-kms", "hckms", "azure-kv", "hc-vault-transit", "age"} {
+		localSet.String(name, "", "")
+	}
+	for name, value := range inlineFlags {
+		require.NoError(t, localSet.Set(name, value))
+	}
+
+	return cli.NewContext(app, localSet, globalCtx)
+}
+
+func writeConfigFile(t *testing.T, dir string, contents string) string {
+	t.Helper()
+
+	configPath := filepath.Join(dir, ".sops.yaml")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(configPath, []byte(contents), 0o600))
+	return configPath
+}
+
+func TestLoadConfigIgnoresNonMatchingCreationRulesWhenInlineKeysAreProvided(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	configPath := writeConfigFile(t, dir, nonMatchingCreationRuleConfig)
+	ctx := newTestCLIContext(t, configPath, map[string]string{
+		"age": "age1xxfdafu5j4e5z7y5l6my6x07vjuh6unxersnwne4etpvykheq9gsj003fv",
+	})
+
+	conf, err := loadConfig(ctx, filepath.Join(dir, "secret.json"), nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, conf)
+}
+
+func TestLoadConfigReturnsNonMatchingCreationRuleErrorWithoutInlineKeys(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	configPath := writeConfigFile(t, dir, nonMatchingCreationRuleConfig)
+	ctx := newTestCLIContext(t, configPath, nil)
+
+	conf, err := loadConfig(ctx, filepath.Join(dir, "secret.json"), nil)
+	require.Nil(t, conf)
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, config.ErrNoMatchingCreationRules)
+}
+
+func TestLoadConfigStillLoadsMatchingCreationRulesWithInlineKeys(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	configPath := writeConfigFile(t, dir, matchingCreationRuleConfig)
+	ctx := newTestCLIContext(t, configPath, map[string]string{
+		"age": "age1xxfdafu5j4e5z7y5l6my6x07vjuh6unxersnwne4etpvykheq9gsj003fv",
+	})
+
+	conf, err := loadConfig(ctx, filepath.Join(dir, "secret.json"), nil)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, conf)
+	require.Len(t, conf.KeyGroups, 1)
+	require.Len(t, conf.KeyGroups[0], 1)
+}
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index 511df1bc1..b03a5dcd4 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Package config provides a way to find and load SOPS configuration files
 package config //import "github.com/getsops/sops/v3/config"
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path"
@@ -43,6 +44,8 @@ const (
 	alternateConfigName = ".sops.yml"
 )
 
+var ErrNoMatchingCreationRules = errors.New("error loading config: no matching creation rules found")
+
 // ConfigFileResult contains the path to a config file and any warnings
 type ConfigFileResult struct {
 	Path    string
@@ -599,7 +602,7 @@ func parseCreationRuleForFile(conf *configFile, confPath, filePath string, kmsEn
 	}
 
 	if rule == nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error loading config: no matching creation rules found")
+		return nil, ErrNoMatchingCreationRules
 	}
 
 	config, err := configFromRule(rule, kmsEncryptionContext)