diff --git a/headless-services/commons/commons-boot-app-cli/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/boot/app/cli/AbstractSpringBootApp.java b/headless-services/commons/commons-boot-app-cli/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/boot/app/cli/AbstractSpringBootApp.java
index 449e83d83..048fad5df 100644
--- a/headless-services/commons/commons-boot-app-cli/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/boot/app/cli/AbstractSpringBootApp.java
+++ b/headless-services/commons/commons-boot-app-cli/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/commons/boot/app/cli/AbstractSpringBootApp.java
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractSpringBootApp implements SpringBootApp {
 			ObjectName objectName = new ObjectName(DEFAULT_OBJECT_NAME);
 
 			Object o = connection.invoke(objectName,"getProperty", new String[] {"local.server.port"}, new String[] {String.class.getName()});
-			return o.toString();
+			return o==null ? null : o.toString();
 		}
 		catch (InstanceNotFoundException e) {
 			return null;