diff --git a/solr/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/TermsComponent.java b/solr/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/TermsComponent.java
index 3386b81bfa3..1ac33c13acd 100644
--- a/solr/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/TermsComponent.java
+++ b/solr/src/java/org/apache/solr/handler/component/TermsComponent.java
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ public class TermsComponent extends SearchComponent {
       NamedList fieldTerms = new NamedList();
       termsResult.add(field, fieldTerms);
 
-      Terms terms = lfields.terms(field);
+      Terms terms = lfields == null ? null : lfields.terms(field);
       if (terms == null) {
         // no terms for this field
         continue;