diff --git a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/DocSlice.java b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/DocSlice.java
index a3500d02866..6ab2d2e8d07 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/DocSlice.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/java/org/apache/solr/search/DocSlice.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public class DocSlice extends DocSetBase implements DocList {
     this.scores=scores;
     this.matches=matches;
     this.maxScore=maxScore;
-    this.ramBytesUsed = BASE_RAM_BYTES_USED + RamUsageEstimator.sizeOf(docs) + RamUsageEstimator.sizeOf(scores);
+    this.ramBytesUsed = BASE_RAM_BYTES_USED + RamUsageEstimator.sizeOf(docs) + (scores != null ? RamUsageEstimator.sizeOf(scores) : 0);
   }
 
   @Override