diff --git a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/refactoring/safeDelete/JavaSafeDeleteProcessor.java b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/refactoring/safeDelete/JavaSafeDeleteProcessor.java
index 807700bc52ae..f236f79473a8 100644
--- a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/refactoring/safeDelete/JavaSafeDeleteProcessor.java
+++ b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/refactoring/safeDelete/JavaSafeDeleteProcessor.java
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ public class JavaSafeDeleteProcessor extends SafeDeleteProcessorDelegateBase {
     if (element instanceof PsiMethod) {
       final PsiClass containingClass = ((PsiMethod)element).getContainingClass();
 
-      if (!containingClass.hasModifierProperty(PsiModifier.ABSTRACT)) {
+      if (containingClass != null && !containingClass.hasModifierProperty(PsiModifier.ABSTRACT)) {
         final PsiMethod[] superMethods = ((PsiMethod) element).findSuperMethods();
         for (PsiMethod superMethod : superMethods) {
           if (isInside(superMethod, allElementsToDelete)) continue;