diff --git a/connect/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/runtime/AbstractHerder.java b/connect/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/runtime/AbstractHerder.java
index 5c37f2d311046..08163cc093b4b 100644
--- a/connect/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/runtime/AbstractHerder.java
+++ b/connect/runtime/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/connect/runtime/AbstractHerder.java
@@ -341,22 +341,22 @@ public ConfigInfos validateConnectorConfig(Map<String, String> connectorProps, b
             Set<String> allGroups = new LinkedHashSet<>(enrichedConfigDef.groups());
 
             // do custom connector-specific validation
-            Config config = connector.validate(connectorProps);
-            if (null == config) {
+            ConfigDef configDef = connector.config();
+            if (null == configDef) {
                 throw new BadRequestException(
-                    String.format(
-                        "%s.validate() must return a Config that is not null.",
-                        connector.getClass().getName()
-                    )
+                        String.format(
+                                "%s.config() must return a ConfigDef that is not null.",
+                                connector.getClass().getName()
+                        )
                 );
             }
-            ConfigDef configDef = connector.config();
-            if (null == configDef) {
+            Config config = connector.validate(connectorProps);
+            if (null == config) {
                 throw new BadRequestException(
-                    String.format(
-                        "%s.config() must return a ConfigDef that is not null.",
-                        connector.getClass().getName()
-                    )
+                        String.format(
+                                "%s.validate() must return a Config that is not null.",
+                                connector.getClass().getName()
+                        )
                 );
             }
             configKeys.putAll(configDef.configKeys());