diff --git a/src/main/java/org/opensearch/security/OpenSearchSecurityPlugin.java b/src/main/java/org/opensearch/security/OpenSearchSecurityPlugin.java
index 811c72f51e..509b98f12e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/opensearch/security/OpenSearchSecurityPlugin.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/opensearch/security/OpenSearchSecurityPlugin.java
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 import java.security.AccessController;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
 import java.security.PrivilegedAction;
+import java.security.Provider;
 import java.security.Security;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -63,7 +64,6 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.QueryCachingPolicy;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Weight;
-import org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider;
 
 import org.opensearch.OpenSearchException;
 import org.opensearch.OpenSearchSecurityException;
@@ -385,18 +385,7 @@ public OpenSearchSecurityPlugin(final Settings settings, final Path configPath)
         demoCertHashes.add("ba9c5a61065f7f6115188128ffbdaa18fca34562b78b811f082439e2bef1d282"); // esnode-key
         demoCertHashes.add("bcd708e8dc707ae065f7ad8582979764b497f062e273d478054ab2f49c5469c6"); // root-ca
 
-        final SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
-
-        if (sm != null) {
-            sm.checkPermission(new SpecialPermission());
-        }
-
-        AccessController.doPrivileged((PrivilegedAction<Void>) () -> {
-            if (Security.getProvider("BC") == null) {
-                Security.addProvider(new BouncyCastleProvider());
-            }
-            return null;
-        });
+        tryAddSecurityProvider();
 
         final String advancedModulesEnabledKey = ConfigConstants.SECURITY_ADVANCED_MODULES_ENABLED;
         if (settings.hasValue(advancedModulesEnabledKey)) {
@@ -2128,6 +2117,30 @@ public Optional<SecureSettingsFactory> getSecureSettingFactory(Settings settings
         return Optional.of(new OpenSearchSecureSettingsFactory(threadPool, sks, sslExceptionHandler, securityRestHandler));
     }
 
+    @SuppressWarnings("removal")
+    private void tryAddSecurityProvider() {
+        final SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
+
+        if (sm != null) {
+            sm.checkPermission(new SpecialPermission());
+        }
+
+        // Add provider if on the classpath.
+        AccessController.doPrivileged((PrivilegedAction<Void>) () -> {
+            if (Security.getProvider("BC") == null) {
+                try {
+                    Class<?> providerClass = Class.forName("org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider");
+                    Provider provider = (Provider) providerClass.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance();
+                    Security.addProvider(provider);
+                    log.debug("Bouncy Castle Provider added");
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    log.debug("Bouncy Castle Provider could not be added", e);
+                }
+            }
+            return null;
+        });
+    }
+
     public static class GuiceHolder implements LifecycleComponent {
 
         private static RepositoriesService repositoriesService;