diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareStorageManagerImpl.java b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareStorageManagerImpl.java
index 7b01d061d49..fee3e0afc71 100644
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareStorageManagerImpl.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/manager/VmwareStorageManagerImpl.java
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ import com.cloud.utils.Pair;
 import com.cloud.utils.StringUtils;
 import com.cloud.utils.Ternary;
 import com.cloud.utils.script.Script;
+import com.cloud.utils.exception.CloudRuntimeException;
 import com.cloud.vm.VirtualMachine;
 import com.cloud.vm.snapshot.VMSnapshot;
 import com.vmware.vim25.ManagedObjectReference;
@@ -1090,6 +1091,9 @@ public class VmwareStorageManagerImpl implements VmwareStorageManager {
     private String getVolumePathInDatastore(DatastoreMO dsMo, String volumeFileName) throws Exception {
         String datastoreVolumePath = dsMo.searchFileInSubFolders(volumeFileName, true);
         assert (datastoreVolumePath != null) : "Virtual disk file missing from datastore.";
+        if (datastoreVolumePath == null) {
+            throw new CloudRuntimeException("Unable to find file " + volumeFileName + " in datastore " + dsMo.getName());
+        }
         return datastoreVolumePath;
     }
 
diff --git a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/resource/VmwareResource.java b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/resource/VmwareResource.java
index 52f41901418..968e095bde1 100755
--- a/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/resource/VmwareResource.java
+++ b/plugins/hypervisors/vmware/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/resource/VmwareResource.java
@@ -3984,7 +3984,9 @@ public class VmwareResource implements StoragePoolResource, ServerResource, Vmwa
             DatastoreMO dsMo = new DatastoreMO(getServiceContext(), morDs);
             String datastoreVolumePath = dsMo.searchFileInSubFolders(cmd.getVolumePath() + ".vmdk", true);
             assert (datastoreVolumePath != null) : "Virtual disk file must exist in specified datastore for attach/detach operations.";
-
+            if (datastoreVolumePath == null) {
+                throw new CloudRuntimeException("Unable to find file " + cmd.getVolumePath() + ".vmdk in datastore " + dsMo.getName());
+            }
             AttachVolumeAnswer answer = new AttachVolumeAnswer(cmd, cmd.getDeviceId(), datastoreVolumePath);
             if (cmd.getAttach()) {
                 vmMo.attachDisk(new String[] { datastoreVolumePath }, morDs);
diff --git a/vmware-base/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/mo/DatastoreMO.java b/vmware-base/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/mo/DatastoreMO.java
index 75553aeaf43..a1f2506ca1f 100755
--- a/vmware-base/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/mo/DatastoreMO.java
+++ b/vmware-base/src/com/cloud/hypervisor/vmware/mo/DatastoreMO.java
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ public class DatastoreMO extends BaseMO {
 
         HostDatastoreBrowserMO browserMo = getHostDatastoreBrowserMO();
         ArrayList<HostDatastoreBrowserSearchResults> results = browserMo.searchDatastoreSubFolders("[" + getName() + "]", fileName, caseInsensitive);
-        if (results.size() > 1) {
+        if (results != null && results.size() > 1) {
             s_logger.warn("Multiple files with name " + fileName + " exists in datastore " + datastorePath + ". Trying to choose first file found in search attempt.");
         }
         for (HostDatastoreBrowserSearchResults result : results) {