diff --git a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/ExceptionUtil.java b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/ExceptionUtil.java
index 1c282381a..70f82a0b6 100644
--- a/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/ExceptionUtil.java
+++ b/smack-core/src/main/java/org/jivesoftware/smack/util/ExceptionUtil.java
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ import java.io.StringWriter;
 public class ExceptionUtil {
 
     public static String getStackTrace(Throwable throwable) {
+        if (throwable == null) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
         StringWriter stringWriter = new StringWriter();
         PrintWriter printWriter = new PrintWriter(stringWriter);