diff --git a/src/solrj/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java b/src/solrj/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java
index d345c52cc49..757cda027f3 100644
--- a/src/solrj/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java
+++ b/src/solrj/org/apache/solr/client/solrj/impl/LBHttpSolrServer.java
@@ -311,7 +311,8 @@ public class LBHttpSolrServer extends SolrServer {
 
   protected void finalize() throws Throwable {
     try {
-      this.aliveCheckExecutor.shutdownNow();
+      if(this.aliveCheckExecutor!=null)
+        this.aliveCheckExecutor.shutdownNow();
     } finally {
       super.finalize();
     }