diff --git a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cookie/PublicSuffixDomainFilter.java b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cookie/PublicSuffixDomainFilter.java
index 8093f0b1c..3022f8e05 100644
--- a/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cookie/PublicSuffixDomainFilter.java
+++ b/httpclient5/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cookie/PublicSuffixDomainFilter.java
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ public PublicSuffixDomainFilter(
     @Override
     public boolean match(final Cookie cookie, final CookieOrigin origin) {
         final String host = cookie.getDomain();
+        if (host == null) {
+            return false;
+        }
         final int i = host.indexOf('.');
         if (i >= 0) {
             final String domain = host.substring(i);