diff --git a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileEditor/impl/LoadTextUtil.java b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileEditor/impl/LoadTextUtil.java
index 59c5b29084d6..8831f21ab6b2 100644
--- a/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileEditor/impl/LoadTextUtil.java
+++ b/platform/core-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileEditor/impl/LoadTextUtil.java
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ public final class LoadTextUtil {
     Charset charset = virtualFile.isCharsetSet() ? virtualFile.getCharset() : detectCharset(virtualFile, content);
     Pair<Charset,byte[]> bomAndCharset = getBOMAndCharset(content, charset);
     final byte[] bom = bomAndCharset.second;
-    if (saveBOM && bom.length != 0) {
+    if (saveBOM && bom != null && bom.length != 0) {
       virtualFile.setBOM(bom);
     }
     return bomAndCharset;