diff --git a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/server/endpoint/interceptor/PayloadRootSmartSoapEndpointInterceptor.java b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/server/endpoint/interceptor/PayloadRootSmartSoapEndpointInterceptor.java
index 14959c56..7e6620f6 100644
--- a/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/server/endpoint/interceptor/PayloadRootSmartSoapEndpointInterceptor.java
+++ b/spring-ws-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/ws/soap/server/endpoint/interceptor/PayloadRootSmartSoapEndpointInterceptor.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class PayloadRootSmartSoapEndpointInterceptor extends DelegatingSmartSoap
     protected boolean shouldIntercept(WebServiceMessage request, Object endpoint) {
         try {
             QName payloadRootName = PayloadRootUtils.getPayloadRootQName(request.getPayloadSource(), transformerHelper);
-            if (!namespaceUri.equals(payloadRootName.getNamespaceURI())) {
+            if (payloadRootName == null || !namespaceUri.equals(payloadRootName.getNamespaceURI())) {
                 return false;
             }
             return !StringUtils.hasLength(localPart) || localPart.equals(payloadRootName.getLocalPart());