diff --git a/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/ClasspathFileBasedCache.java b/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/ClasspathFileBasedCache.java
index 91992010e..896a6f5b1 100644
--- a/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/ClasspathFileBasedCache.java
+++ b/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/ClasspathFileBasedCache.java
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@ import org.json.JSONTokener;
 import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.util.Log;
 
 public class ClasspathFileBasedCache {
+	
+	public static final ClasspathFileBasedCache NULL = new ClasspathFileBasedCache(null);
+	
 	public static final String CLASSPATH_DATA_CACHE_FILE = "classpath-data.json";
 	
 	private static final String OUTPUT_FOLDER_PROPERTY = "outputFolder";
diff --git a/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/DelegatingCachedClasspath.java b/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/DelegatingCachedClasspath.java
index 14c26b426..7b3c7f121 100644
--- a/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/DelegatingCachedClasspath.java
+++ b/headless-services/commons/commons-java/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/java/DelegatingCachedClasspath.java
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
 import java.util.function.Predicate;
 
+import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.util.Assert;
+
 import com.google.common.base.Objects;
 import com.google.common.collect.ImmutableList;
 
@@ -46,12 +48,13 @@ public class DelegatingCachedClasspath<T extends IClasspath> implements IClasspa
 	private Callable<T> delegateCreator;
 	private AtomicReference<T> cachedDelegate;
 
-	private ClasspathFileBasedCache fileCache;
+	private final ClasspathFileBasedCache fileCache;
 	
 	
 	public DelegatingCachedClasspath(Callable<T> delegateCreator, ClasspathFileBasedCache fileCache) {
 		super();
-		this.fileCache = fileCache;
+		Assert.isLegal(delegateCreator != null);
+		this.fileCache = fileCache != null ? fileCache : ClasspathFileBasedCache.NULL;
 		this.cachedDelegate = new AtomicReference<>(null);
 		this.cachedData = new AtomicReference<>(loadFileBasedCache(fileCache));
 		this.delegateCreator = delegateCreator;