diff --git a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParser.java b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParser.java
index 8d2781376..68bef847d 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParser.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParser.java
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 package org.springframework.cloud.sleuth;
 
-import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles;
-
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 import org.springframework.cloud.sleuth.util.ExceptionUtils;
 
+import java.lang.invoke.MethodHandles;
+
 /**
  * {@link ErrorParser} that sets the error tag for an exportable span.
  *
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public class ExceptionMessageErrorParser implements ErrorParser {
 
 	@Override
 	public void parseErrorTags(Span span, Throwable error) {
-		if (span.isExportable()) {
+		if (span != null && span.isExportable()) {
 			String errorMsg = ExceptionUtils.getExceptionMessage(error);
 			if (log.isDebugEnabled()) {
 				log.debug("Adding an error tag [" + errorMsg + "] to span " + span);
diff --git a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParserTests.java b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParserTests.java
index 535348662..e0148ae69 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-sleuth-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/sleuth/ExceptionMessageErrorParserTests.java
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@ public class ExceptionMessageErrorParserTests {
 		then(span).hasATag("error", "foo");
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void should_not_throw_an_exception_when_span_is_null() throws Exception {
+		new ExceptionMessageErrorParser().parseErrorTags(null, null);
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void should_not_append_tag_for_non_exportable_span() throws Exception {
 		Throwable e = new RuntimeException("foo");