diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/core/Installer.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/core/Installer.java
index a9a4131ea4..329fe3dfc9 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/core/Installer.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/core/Installer.java
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.Logger;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.MessageNotifyUtil;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.ModuleSettings;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.PlatformUtil;
+import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.modules.filetypeid.FileTypeDetector;
 
 /**
  * Wrapper over Installers in packages in Core module. This is the main
@@ -226,6 +227,21 @@ public class Installer extends ModuleInstall {
         packageInstallers.add(org.sleuthkit.autopsy.ingest.Installer.getDefault());
         packageInstallers.add(org.sleuthkit.autopsy.centralrepository.eventlisteners.Installer.getDefault());
         packageInstallers.add(org.sleuthkit.autopsy.healthmonitor.Installer.getDefault());
+
+        /**
+         * This is a temporary workaround for the following bug in Tika that
+         * results in a null pointer exception when used from the Image Gallery.
+         * The current hypothesis is that the Image Gallery is cancelling the
+         * thumbnail task that Tika initialization is happening on. Once the
+         * Tika issue has been fixed we should no longer need this workaround.
+         *
+         * https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/TIKA-2896
+         */
+        try {
+            FileTypeDetector fileTypeDetector = new FileTypeDetector();
+        } catch (FileTypeDetector.FileTypeDetectorInitException ex) {
+            logger.log(Level.SEVERE, "Failed to load file type detector.", ex);
+        }
     }
 
     /**