diff --git a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/ComboboxSpeedSearch.java b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/ComboboxSpeedSearch.java
index 83ce37170579..114f2f0e90aa 100644
--- a/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/ComboboxSpeedSearch.java
+++ b/platform/platform-impl/src/com/intellij/ui/ComboboxSpeedSearch.java
@@ -56,6 +56,6 @@ public class ComboboxSpeedSearch extends SpeedSearchBase<JComboBox> {
   }
 
   protected String getElementText(Object element) {
-    return element.toString();
+    return element == null ? null : element.toString();
   }
 }
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