diff --git a/solr/CHANGES.txt b/solr/CHANGES.txt
index ab411d83130..fa519e94857 100644
--- a/solr/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/solr/CHANGES.txt
@@ -134,6 +134,9 @@ Bug Fixes
 
 * SOLR-6023: FieldAnalysisRequestHandler throws NPE if no parameters are supplied.
   (shalin)
+  
+* SOLR-5090: SpellCheckComponent sometimes throws NPE if 
+  "spellcheck.alternativeTermCount" is set to zero (James Dyer).
 
 Other Changes
 ---------------------
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/SpellCheckComponent.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/SpellCheckComponent.java
index 3544630c134..77de7ecf5cc 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/SpellCheckComponent.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/SpellCheckComponent.java
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ public class SpellCheckComponent extends SearchComponent implements SolrCoreAwar
         boolean extendedResults = params.getBool(SPELLCHECK_EXTENDED_RESULTS, false); 
         boolean collate = params.getBool(SPELLCHECK_COLLATE, false);
         float accuracy = params.getFloat(SPELLCHECK_ACCURACY, Float.MIN_VALUE);
-        Integer alternativeTermCount = params.getInt(SpellingParams.SPELLCHECK_ALTERNATIVE_TERM_COUNT); 
+        int alternativeTermCount = params.getInt(SpellingParams.SPELLCHECK_ALTERNATIVE_TERM_COUNT, 0); 
         Integer maxResultsForSuggest = params.getInt(SpellingParams.SPELLCHECK_MAX_RESULTS_FOR_SUGGEST);
         ModifiableSolrParams customParams = new ModifiableSolrParams();
         for (String checkerName : getDictionaryNames(params)) {
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public class SpellCheckComponent extends SearchComponent implements SolrCoreAwar
           SuggestMode suggestMode = SuggestMode.SUGGEST_WHEN_NOT_IN_INDEX;
           if (onlyMorePopular) {
             suggestMode = SuggestMode.SUGGEST_MORE_POPULAR;
-          } else if (alternativeTermCount != null) {
+          } else if (alternativeTermCount > 0) {
             suggestMode = SuggestMode.SUGGEST_ALWAYS;
           }
           
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/AbstractLuceneSpellChecker.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/AbstractLuceneSpellChecker.java
index 238673e7a34..41ba2ecbabd 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/AbstractLuceneSpellChecker.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/AbstractLuceneSpellChecker.java
@@ -156,17 +156,17 @@ public abstract class AbstractLuceneSpellChecker extends SolrSpellChecker {
         docFreq = reader.docFreq(term);
       }
       String[] suggestions = spellChecker.suggestSimilar(tokenText,
-          ((options.alternativeTermCount == null || docFreq == 0) ? count
+          ((options.alternativeTermCount == 0 || docFreq == 0) ? count
               : options.alternativeTermCount), field != null ? reader : null, // workaround LUCENE-1295
           field, options.suggestMode, theAccuracy);
       if (suggestions.length == 1 && suggestions[0].equals(tokenText)
-          && options.alternativeTermCount == null) {
+          && options.alternativeTermCount == 0) {
         // These are spelled the same, continue on
         continue;
       }
       // If considering alternatives to "correctly-spelled" terms, then add the
       // original as a viable suggestion.
-      if (options.alternativeTermCount != null && docFreq > 0) {
+      if (options.alternativeTermCount > 0 && docFreq > 0) {
         boolean foundOriginal = false;
         String[] suggestionsWithOrig = new String[suggestions.length + 1];
         for (int i = 0; i < suggestions.length; i++) {
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/DirectSolrSpellChecker.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/DirectSolrSpellChecker.java
index 1884da74eff..14e26f1cbfe 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/DirectSolrSpellChecker.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/DirectSolrSpellChecker.java
@@ -185,13 +185,13 @@ public class DirectSolrSpellChecker extends SolrSpellChecker {
       String tokenText = token.toString();
       Term term = new Term(field, tokenText);
       int freq = options.reader.docFreq(term);
-      int count = (options.alternativeTermCount != null && freq > 0) ? options.alternativeTermCount: options.count;
+      int count = (options.alternativeTermCount > 0 && freq > 0) ? options.alternativeTermCount: options.count;
       SuggestWord[] suggestions = checker.suggestSimilar(term, count,options.reader, options.suggestMode, accuracy);
       result.addFrequency(token, freq);
             
       // If considering alternatives to "correctly-spelled" terms, then add the
       // original as a viable suggestion.
-      if (options.alternativeTermCount != null && freq > 0) {
+      if (options.alternativeTermCount > 0 && freq > 0) {
         boolean foundOriginal = false;
         SuggestWord[] suggestionsWithOrig = new SuggestWord[suggestions.length + 1];
         for (int i = 0; i < suggestions.length; i++) {
diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellingOptions.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellingOptions.java
index cf12f4c985e..d0d211e42fb 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellingOptions.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellingOptions.java
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public class SpellingOptions {
    */
   public int count = 1;
   
-  public Integer alternativeTermCount = null;
+  public int alternativeTermCount = 0;
   
   public SuggestMode suggestMode = SuggestMode.SUGGEST_WHEN_NOT_IN_INDEX;
   /**
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ public class SpellingOptions {
   }
   
   public SpellingOptions(Collection<Token> tokens, IndexReader reader,
-      int count, Integer alternativeTermCount, SuggestMode suggestMode,
+      int count, int alternativeTermCount, SuggestMode suggestMode,
       boolean extendedResults, float accuracy, SolrParams customParams) {
     this.tokens = tokens;
     this.reader = reader;
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellCheckCollatorTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellCheckCollatorTest.java
index f1b3651909d..8e0063bd095 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellCheckCollatorTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/spelling/SpellCheckCollatorTest.java
@@ -463,6 +463,14 @@ public class SpellCheckCollatorTest extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
         "//lst[@name='spellcheck']/lst[@name='suggestions']/lst[@name='collation']/int[@name='hits']=1",
         "//lst[@name='spellcheck']/lst[@name='suggestions']/lst[@name='collation']/lst[@name='misspellingsAndCorrections']/str[@name='june']='jane'"
       );
+      //SOLR-5090, alternativeTermCount==0 was being evaluated, sometimes would throw NPE
+      assertQ(req("q", "teststop:(june customs)", "mm", "2", "qt",
+          "spellCheckCompRH", "indent", "true",
+          SpellCheckComponent.COMPONENT_NAME, "true",
+          SpellCheckComponent.SPELLCHECK_DICT, dictionary[i],
+          SpellCheckComponent.SPELLCHECK_COUNT, "10",
+          SpellCheckComponent.SPELLCHECK_ALTERNATIVE_TERM_COUNT, "0",
+          SpellCheckComponent.SPELLCHECK_COLLATE, "true"));
     }
   }