diff --git a/plugins/junit_rt/src/com/intellij/junit4/JUnit4TestResultsSender.java b/plugins/junit_rt/src/com/intellij/junit4/JUnit4TestResultsSender.java
index 9a2b844f55e4..630e79f12980 100644
--- a/plugins/junit_rt/src/com/intellij/junit4/JUnit4TestResultsSender.java
+++ b/plugins/junit_rt/src/com/intellij/junit4/JUnit4TestResultsSender.java
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ public class JUnit4TestResultsSender extends RunListener {
   }
 
   private static boolean isComparisonFailure(Throwable throwable) {
+    if (throwable == null) return false;
     final String throwableClassName = throwable.getClass().getName();
     return throwableClassName.equals(JUNIT_FRAMEWORK_COMPARISON_NAME) || throwableClassName.equals(ORG_JUNIT_COMPARISON_NAME);
   }