diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-1623.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-1623.txt
index 2eac773f966..d6eb3c83f7b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-1623.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.HDFS-1623.txt
@@ -200,3 +200,5 @@ HDFS-2939. TestHAStateTransitions fails on Windows. (Uma Maheswara Rao G via atm
 HDFS-2947. On startup NN throws an NPE in the metrics system. (atm)
 
 HDFS-2942. TestActiveStandbyElectorRealZK fails if build dir does not exist. (atm)
+
+HDFS-2948. NN throws NPE during shutdown if it fails to startup (todd)
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
index 2e7292229cf..f1bfa74888f 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hdfs/server/namenode/NameNode.java
@@ -974,7 +974,9 @@ public class NameNode {
 
     @Override
     public void stopActiveServices() throws IOException {
-      namesystem.stopActiveServices();
+      if (namesystem != null) {
+        namesystem.stopActiveServices();
+      }
       stopTrashEmptier();
     }