diff --git a/artemis-jms-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/jms/server/impl/JMSServerManagerImpl.java b/artemis-jms-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/jms/server/impl/JMSServerManagerImpl.java
index 96004e9ec1..4c1874162d 100644
--- a/artemis-jms-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/jms/server/impl/JMSServerManagerImpl.java
+++ b/artemis-jms-server/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/artemis/jms/server/impl/JMSServerManagerImpl.java
@@ -1666,6 +1666,9 @@ public class JMSServerManagerImpl implements JMSServerManager, ActivateCallback
       @Override
       public boolean delete(SimpleString queueName) throws Exception {
          Queue queue = server.locateQueue(queueName);
+         if (queue == null) {
+            return false;
+         }
          SimpleString address = queue.getAddress();
          AddressSettings settings = server.getAddressSettingsRepository().getMatch(address.toString());
          long consumerCount = queue.getConsumerCount();