diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Main.java b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Main.java
index 10ebef463..f1191a459 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Main.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit.pgm/src/org/eclipse/jgit/pgm/Main.java
@@ -232,7 +232,8 @@ public class Main {
 			if (gitDir.isDirectory())
 				return gitDir;
 			current = current.getParentFile();
-			if (ceilingDirectories.contains(current.getPath()))
+			if (current != null
+					&& ceilingDirectories.contains(current.getPath()))
 				break;
 		}
 		return null;