src/share/vm/classfile/javaClasses.hpp

@@ -155,11 +155,16 @@
     assert(initialized, "Must be initialized");
     assert(is_instance(java_string), "must be java_string");
     if (count_offset > 0) {
       return java_string->int_field(count_offset);
     } else {
-      return ((typeArrayOop)java_string->obj_field(value_offset))->length();
+      typeArrayOop value_array = ((typeArrayOop)java_string->obj_field(value_offset));
+      if (value_array == NULL) {
+        return 0;
+      } else {
+        return value_array->length();
+      }
     }
   }
   static int utf8_length(oop java_string);
 
   // String converters