diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/directorytree/ExtractUnallocAction.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/directorytree/ExtractUnallocAction.java
index 1823f84969..82b162d5e5 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/directorytree/ExtractUnallocAction.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/directorytree/ExtractUnallocAction.java
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ public final class ExtractUnallocAction extends AbstractAction {
         UnallocVisitor uv = new UnallocVisitor();
         try {
             List<Content> unallocFiles = c.getChildren();
-            if (unallocFiles.isEmpty() == false) {
+            if (null != unallocFiles && unallocFiles.isEmpty() == false) {
                 return unallocFiles.get(0).accept(uv); //Launching it on the root directory
             }
         } catch (TskCoreException tce) {