I had the following invalid code block in a custom design theme:
<referenceBlock name="header-wrapper">
<item name="authentication" xsi:type="array">
<item name="sortOrder" xsi:type="string">1</item>
<item name="component" xsi:type="string">Magento_Checkout/js/view/authentication</item>
<item name="displayArea" xsi:type="string">authentication</item>
<item name="children" xsi:type="array">
<item name="errors" xsi:type="array">
<item name="sortOrder" xsi:type="string">0</item>
<item name="component" xsi:type="string">Magento_Checkout/js/view/authentication-messages</item>
<item name="displayArea" xsi:type="string">messages</item>
</item>
</item>
</item>
</referenceBlock>
I have just deleted it.