diff --git a/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml/Saml2/Saml2AuthenticationContext.cs b/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml/Saml2/Saml2AuthenticationContext.cs
index b0caa9a6af..b777bd2011 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml/Saml2/Saml2AuthenticationContext.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml/Saml2/Saml2AuthenticationContext.cs
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ public ICollection<Uri> AuthenticatingAuthorities
         /// describes the authentication context declaration that follows.
         /// [Saml2Core, 2.7.2.2]
         /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// The check for an absolute URI can be disabled by setting <see cref="AppContextSwitches.AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext"/>.
+        /// </remarks>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">if 'value' is null.</exception>
         /// <exception cref="ArgumentException">if 'value' is not an absolute Uri.</exception>
         public Uri ClassReference
@@ -78,7 +81,7 @@ public Uri ClassReference
                 if (value == null)
                     throw LogArgumentNullException(nameof(value));
 
-                if (!value.IsAbsoluteUri)
+                if (!value.IsAbsoluteUri && !AppContextSwitches.AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext)
                     throw LogExceptionMessage(new ArgumentException(FormatInvariant(LogMessages.IDX13300, MarkAsNonPII(nameof(ClassReference)), value)));
 
                 _classReference = value;
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens/AppContextSwitches.cs b/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens/AppContextSwitches.cs
index 7f32a2fb85..4638ea5e88 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens/AppContextSwitches.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens/AppContextSwitches.cs
@@ -98,6 +98,14 @@ internal static class AppContextSwitches
         private static bool? _useCapitalizedXMLTypeAttr;
         internal static bool UseCapitalizedXMLTypeAttr => _useCapitalizedXMLTypeAttr ??= (AppContext.TryGetSwitch(UseCapitalizedXMLTypeAttrSwitch, out bool useCapitalizedXMLTypeAttr) && useCapitalizedXMLTypeAttr);
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// When enabled, allows using relative URIs in SAML2 authentication context.
+        /// </summary>
+        internal const string AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContextSwitch = "Switch.Microsoft.IdentityModel.AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext";
+        private static bool? _allowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext;
+        internal static bool AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext => _allowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext ??= (AppContext.TryGetSwitch(AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContextSwitch, out bool allowRelativeUris) && allowRelativeUris);
+
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Used for testing to reset all switches to its default value.
         /// </summary>
@@ -123,6 +131,9 @@ internal static void ResetAllSwitches()
 
             _useCapitalizedXMLTypeAttr = null;
             AppContext.SetSwitch(UseCapitalizedXMLTypeAttrSwitch, false);
+
+            _allowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContext = null;
+            AppContext.SetSwitch(AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContextSwitch, false);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextCollectionDefinition.cs b/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextCollectionDefinition.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..32f0a0eb66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextCollectionDefinition.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the MIT License.
+
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests
+{
+    [CollectionDefinition("Saml2AuthenticationContextTests", DisableParallelization = true)]
+    public class Saml2AuthenticationContextCollectionDefinition
+    {
+        // This class is used to define a collection for the Saml2AuthenticationContext tests.
+        // It allows the tests to run sequentially and share setup/teardown logic if needed.
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextTests.cs b/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextTests.cs
index d9a0b63f4a..73f84ab65c 100644
--- a/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextTests.cs
+++ b/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextTests.cs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 namespace Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests
 {
+    [Collection("Saml2AuthenticationContextTests")]
     public class Saml2AuthenticationContextTests
     {
         [Fact]
diff --git a/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextWithAppContextTests.cs b/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextWithAppContextTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..31d276b0a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests/Saml2AuthenticationContextWithAppContextTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+// Licensed under the MIT License.
+
+using System;
+using Xunit;
+using Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml2;
+
+namespace Microsoft.IdentityModel.Tokens.Saml.Tests
+{
+    [Collection("Saml2AuthenticationContextTests")]
+    public class Saml2AuthenticationContextWithAppContextTests
+    {
+        [Fact]
+        public void Saml2AuthenticationContext_RelativeClassReference_AllowRelativeUris_NoException()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                var classRef = new Uri("resource", UriKind.Relative);
+                AppContext.SetSwitch(AppContextSwitches.AllowRelativeUrisInSaml2AuthnContextSwitch, true);
+                var authContext = new Saml2AuthenticationContext
+                {
+                    ClassReference = classRef
+                };
+                Assert.Equal(classRef, authContext.ClassReference);
+            }
+            finally
+            {
+                AppContextSwitches.ResetAllSwitches();
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}