diff --git a/artemis-core-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupport.java b/artemis-core-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupport.java
index 5320bacac9..2b97c75888 100644
--- a/artemis-core-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupport.java
+++ b/artemis-core-client/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupport.java
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ public class SSLSupport {
             URL keystoreURL = SSLSupport.validateStoreURL(keystorePath);
             in = keystoreURL.openStream();
          }
-         ks.load(in, keystorePassword.toCharArray());
+         ks.load(in, keystorePassword == null ? null : keystorePassword.toCharArray());
       }
       finally {
          if (in != null) {
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public class SSLSupport {
       else {
          KeyManagerFactory kmf = KeyManagerFactory.getInstance(KeyManagerFactory.getDefaultAlgorithm());
          KeyStore ks = SSLSupport.loadKeystore(keyStoreProvider, keystorePath, keystorePassword);
-         kmf.init(ks, keystorePassword.toCharArray());
+         kmf.init(ks, keystorePassword == null ? null : keystorePassword.toCharArray());
 
          return kmf.getKeyManagers();
       }
diff --git a/tests/unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/unit/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupportTest.java b/tests/unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/unit/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupportTest.java
index cb2655296f..6ecb385c15 100644
--- a/tests/unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/unit/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupportTest.java
+++ b/tests/unit-tests/src/test/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/tests/unit/core/remoting/impl/ssl/SSLSupportTest.java
@@ -137,6 +137,17 @@ public class SSLSupportTest extends ActiveMQTestBase {
       }
    }
 
+   @Test
+   public void testContextWithNullKeyStorePassword() throws Exception {
+      try {
+         SSLSupport.createContext(storeType, keyStorePath, null, storeType, trustStorePath, trustStorePassword);
+         Assert.fail();
+      }
+      catch (Exception e) {
+         assertFalse(e instanceof NullPointerException);
+      }
+   }
+
    @Test
    public void testContextWithBadTrustStorePath() throws Exception {
       try {