diff --git a/tests/test_sft_trainer.py b/tests/test_sft_trainer.py
index dd896823e2..30729a6a41 100644
--- a/tests/test_sft_trainer.py
+++ b/tests/test_sft_trainer.py
@@ -1156,6 +1156,29 @@ def test_sft_trainer_skip_prepare_dataset(self):
             assert trainer.train_dataset.features == self.dummy_vsft_instruction_dataset.features
             assert trainer.eval_dataset.features == self.dummy_vsft_instruction_dataset.features
 
+    def test_sft_trainer_skip_prepare_dataset_with_no_packing(self):
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
+            training_args = SFTConfig(
+                output_dir=tmp_dir,
+                dataloader_drop_last=True,
+                eval_strategy="steps",
+                max_steps=4,
+                eval_steps=2,
+                save_steps=2,
+                per_device_train_batch_size=2,
+                gradient_checkpointing=True,
+                remove_unused_columns=False,
+                packing=False,
+                dataset_kwargs={"skip_prepare_dataset": True},
+            )
+
+            trainer = SFTTrainer(
+                model=self.model_id,
+                args=training_args,
+                train_dataset=self.dummy_dataset,
+            )
+            assert trainer.train_dataset.features == self.dummy_dataset.features
+
     @requires_pil
     def test_sft_trainer_llava(self):
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
diff --git a/trl/trainer/sft_trainer.py b/trl/trainer/sft_trainer.py
index c3bb7c7c98..a11c99128e 100644
--- a/trl/trainer/sft_trainer.py
+++ b/trl/trainer/sft_trainer.py
@@ -319,7 +319,15 @@ def make_inputs_require_grad(module, input, output):
                     dataset_kwargs["add_special_tokens"] = False
 
         if not args.packing:
-            if args.dataset_text_field is None and formatting_func is None:
+            # If we aren't skipping data preparation, then a dataset_text_field
+            # or formatting_func must be provided.
+            if (
+                args.dataset_text_field is None
+                and formatting_func is None
+                and dataset_kwargs is not None
+                and "skip_prepare_dataset" in dataset_kwargs
+                and dataset_kwargs["skip_prepare_dataset"]
+            ):
                 raise ValueError(
                     "You passed `packing=False` to the SFTTrainer/SFTConfig, but you didn't pass a `dataset_text_field` or `formatting_func` argument."
                 )