diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9e14ed1..0874f89 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+- Allow lazy loading the signer
+
 ## [0.5.4] 2024-11-18
 
 - Allow creating public container
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 550d1b0..a8a02db 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -95,6 +95,21 @@ client.delete_blob(path)
 
 For the full list of methods: https://www.rubydoc.info/gems/azure-blob/AzureBlob/Client
 
+## options
+
+### Lazy loading
+
+The client is setup to raise early for missing credentials so that it crashes before becoming healthy.
+That is sometimes undesirable. During assets precompilation for example.
+
+To lazy load and ignore missing credentials, set the lazy option:
+
+
+`AzureBlob::Client.new(account_name: nil, access_key: nil, container: nil, lazy: true)`
+
+or add `lazy: true` to your `config/storage.yml` for Active Storage.
+
+
 ## Contributing
 
 ### Dev environment
diff --git a/lib/azure_blob/client.rb b/lib/azure_blob/client.rb
index 0fdbd1f..7660517 100644
--- a/lib/azure_blob/client.rb
+++ b/lib/azure_blob/client.rb
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ def initialize(account_name:, access_key: nil, principal_id: nil, container:, ho
       @access_key = access_key
       @principal_id = principal_id
       @use_managed_identities = options[:use_managed_identities]
+      signer unless options[:lazy]
     end
 
     # Create a blob of type block. Will automatically split the the blob in multiple block and send the blob in pieces (blocks) if the blob is too big.
diff --git a/test/client/test_client.rb b/test/client/test_client.rb
index 6585723..a295f0e 100644
--- a/test/client/test_client.rb
+++ b/test/client/test_client.rb
@@ -66,6 +66,18 @@ def test_without_credentials
     )
   end
 
+  def test_lazy_loading_doesnt_raise_before_querying
+    client = AzureBlob::Client.new(
+      account_name: @account_name,
+      container: @container,
+      lazy: true,
+    )
+
+    assert_raises(AzureBlob::Error) do
+      client.create_block_blob(key, content)
+    end
+  end
+
   def test_single_block_upload
     client.create_block_blob(key, content)