diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 74d4265a974..18504560f65 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -455,6 +455,8 @@ Release 0.22.0 - Unreleased
 
     HADOOP-7046. Fix Findbugs warning in Configuration. (Po Cheung via shv)
 
+    HADOOP-7118. Fix NPE in Configuration.writeXml (todd)
+
 Release 0.21.1 - Unreleased
 
   IMPROVEMENTS
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/conf/Configuration.java b/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/conf/Configuration.java
index 6b7df166946..c05acf36208 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/conf/Configuration.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/hadoop/conf/Configuration.java
@@ -1620,6 +1620,7 @@ public class Configuration implements Iterable<Map.Entry<String,String>>,
     Element conf = doc.createElement("configuration");
     doc.appendChild(conf);
     conf.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
+    getProps(); // ensure properties is set
     for (Enumeration e = properties.keys(); e.hasMoreElements();) {
       String name = (String)e.nextElement();
       Object object = properties.get(name);
diff --git a/src/test/core/org/apache/hadoop/conf/TestConfiguration.java b/src/test/core/org/apache/hadoop/conf/TestConfiguration.java
index 52c887f308a..fc9deef34ff 100644
--- a/src/test/core/org/apache/hadoop/conf/TestConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/test/core/org/apache/hadoop/conf/TestConfiguration.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 package org.apache.hadoop.conf;
 
 import java.io.BufferedWriter;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -255,6 +256,16 @@ public class TestConfiguration extends TestCase {
     assertEquals(expectedOutput, conf.toString());
   }
   
+  public void testWriteXml() throws IOException {
+    Configuration conf = new Configuration();
+    ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream(); 
+    conf.writeXml(baos);
+    String result = baos.toString();
+    assertTrue("Result has proper header", result.startsWith(
+        "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"no\"?><configuration>"));
+    assertTrue("Result has proper footer", result.endsWith("</configuration>"));
+  }
+  
   public void testIncludes() throws Exception {
     tearDown();
     System.out.println("XXX testIncludes");