diff --git a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/lookup/VariableLookupItem.java b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/lookup/VariableLookupItem.java
index 758121071d45..8eea1dd64231 100644
--- a/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/lookup/VariableLookupItem.java
+++ b/java/java-impl/src/com/intellij/codeInsight/lookup/VariableLookupItem.java
@@ -159,6 +159,9 @@ public class VariableLookupItem extends LookupItem<PsiVariable> implements Typed
         final PsiReferenceExpression
           ref = PsiTreeUtil.findElementOfClassAtOffset(context.getFile(), context.getStartOffset(), PsiReferenceExpression.class, false);
         if (ref != null) {
+          if (ref.isQualified()) {
+            return; // shouldn't happen, but sometimes we see exceptions because of this
+          }
           ref.bindToElementViaStaticImport(((PsiField)variable).getContainingClass());
           PostprocessReformattingAspect.getInstance(ref.getProject()).doPostponedFormatting();
         }