diff --git a/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/autoconfigure/CassandraAutoConfiguration.java b/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/autoconfigure/CassandraAutoConfiguration.java
index 3ba089651d1..6e5d7885df1 100644
--- a/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/autoconfigure/CassandraAutoConfiguration.java
+++ b/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/autoconfigure/CassandraAutoConfiguration.java
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ public final class CassandraAutoConfiguration {
 
 	private static final class CassandraDriverOptions {
 
-		private final Map<String, String> options = new LinkedHashMap<>();
+		private final Map<String, @Nullable String> options = new LinkedHashMap<>();
 
 		private CassandraDriverOptions add(DriverOption option, @Nullable String value) {
 			String key = createKeyFor(option);
diff --git a/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/docker/compose/CassandraEnvironment.java b/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/docker/compose/CassandraEnvironment.java
index d3ea505b900..44b948c7daa 100644
--- a/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/docker/compose/CassandraEnvironment.java
+++ b/module/spring-boot-cassandra/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/cassandra/docker/compose/CassandraEnvironment.java
@@ -30,7 +30,12 @@ class CassandraEnvironment {
 	private final String datacenter;
 
 	CassandraEnvironment(Map<String, @Nullable String> env) {
-		this.datacenter = env.getOrDefault("CASSANDRA_DC", env.getOrDefault("CASSANDRA_DATACENTER", "datacenter1"));
+		this.datacenter = getDatacenter(env);
+	}
+
+	private static String getDatacenter(Map<String, @Nullable String> env) {
+		String datacenter = env.getOrDefault("CASSANDRA_DC", env.get("CASSANDRA_DATACENTER"));
+		return (datacenter != null) ? datacenter : "datacenter1";
 	}
 
 	String getDatacenter() {