diff --git a/headless-services/spring-boot-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/annotations/AnnotationHierarchies.java b/headless-services/spring-boot-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/annotations/AnnotationHierarchies.java
index 084fc143c..7cb2578ad 100644
--- a/headless-services/spring-boot-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/annotations/AnnotationHierarchies.java
+++ b/headless-services/spring-boot-language-server/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/boot/java/annotations/AnnotationHierarchies.java
@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@ public abstract class AnnotationHierarchies {
 
 	public static Set<String> getTransitiveSuperAnnotations(FullyQualified type) {
 		Set<String> seen = new HashSet<>();
-		findTransitiveSupers(type, seen).collect(Collectors.toList());
+		if (type != null) {
+			findTransitiveSupers(type, seen).collect(Collectors.toList());
+		}
 		return seen;
 	}