diff --git a/headless-services/commons/commons-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/metadata/IndexNavigator.java b/headless-services/commons/commons-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/metadata/IndexNavigator.java
index ffa4f3b6a..1b7e77998 100644
--- a/headless-services/commons/commons-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/metadata/IndexNavigator.java
+++ b/headless-services/commons/commons-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/metadata/IndexNavigator.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public class IndexNavigator {
 	public PropertyInfo getExactMatch() {
 		if (prefix!=null) {
 			PropertyInfo candidate = index.findLongestCommonPrefixEntry(prefix);
-			if (candidate.getId().equals(prefix)) {
+			if (candidate!=null && candidate.getId().equals(prefix)) {
 				return candidate;
 			}
 		}