diff --git a/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java b/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
index 0d99ec3a95c..067b638cdfd 100755
--- a/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
+++ b/server/src/com/cloud/vm/UserVmManagerImpl.java
@@ -2808,7 +2808,7 @@ public class UserVmManagerImpl implements UserVmManager, UserVmService, Manager
 
     @Override
     public void finalizeStop(VirtualMachineProfile<UserVmVO> profile, StopAnswer answer) {
-        if("VM does not exist".equals(answer.getDetails())){
+        if(answer != null && "VM does not exist".equals(answer.getDetails())){
             // Stop answer returns true when Vm does not exist.
             // This is a hack to avoid logging usage events
             return;