diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexModifier.java b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexModifier.java
index d5ab07f02f7..9e2750c2ec7 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexModifier.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/lucene/index/IndexModifier.java
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ public class IndexModifier {
       if (indexWriter != null) {
         indexWriter.close();
         indexWriter = null;
-      } else {
+      } else if (indexReader != null) {
         indexReader.close();
         indexReader = null;
       }