diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ConfigurationValidationResult.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ConfigurationValidationResult.java
index 30d18c8a81..8468238f14 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ConfigurationValidationResult.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ConfigurationValidationResult.java
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ public interface ConfigurationValidationResult
     boolean isValid();
 
     /**
-     * Parsed user settings, or null if there's any parse error, that can be retrieved through
+     * Parsed user settings. If there's any parse error, it can be retrieved through
      * {@link #getUserSettingsException()}
      */
     Settings getUserSettings();
 
     /**
-     * Parsed global settings, or null if there's any parse error, that can be retrieved through
+     * Parsed global settings. If there's any parse error, it can be retrieved through
      * {@link #getGlobalSettingsException()}
      */
     Settings getGlobalSettings();
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/DefaultConfigurationValidationResult.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/DefaultConfigurationValidationResult.java
index 4fa272bc50..99d6fdd389 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/DefaultConfigurationValidationResult.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/DefaultConfigurationValidationResult.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class DefaultConfigurationValidationResult
 
     public boolean isValid()
     {
-        return ( getUserSettings() != null ) && ( getGlobalSettings() != null );
+        return ( getUserSettingsException() == null ) && ( getGlobalSettingsException() == null );
     }
 
     public Throwable getUserSettingsException()
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public class DefaultConfigurationValidationResult
 
     public boolean isGlobalSettingsFilePresent()
     {
-        return getGlobalSettingsException() instanceof FileNotFoundException;
+        return isSettingsFilePresent( getGlobalSettings(), getGlobalSettingsException() );
     }
 
     public boolean isUserSettingsFileParses()
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ public class DefaultConfigurationValidationResult
 
     public boolean isUserSettingsFilePresent()
     {
-        return getUserSettingsException() instanceof FileNotFoundException;
+        return isSettingsFilePresent( getUserSettings(), getUserSettingsException() );
     }
 
     public void setGlobalSettingsFileParses( boolean globalSettingsFileParses )
@@ -124,4 +124,9 @@ public class DefaultConfigurationValidationResult
     {
         // ignored
     }
+
+    private boolean isSettingsFilePresent( Settings settings, Throwable e )
+    {
+        return ( settings != null ) || ( ( e != null ) && !( e instanceof FileNotFoundException ) );
+    }
 }
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java
index 6873b7b692..e92efc4222 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedder.java
@@ -754,7 +754,10 @@ public class MavenEmbedder
             {
                 try
                 {
-                    fileReader.close();
+                    if ( fileReader != null )
+                    {
+                        fileReader.close();
+                    }
                 }
                 catch ( IOException e )
                 {
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ValidateConfigurationTest.java b/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ValidateConfigurationTest.java
index 9e079c97b9..b8bfd61c99 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ValidateConfigurationTest.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/ValidateConfigurationTest.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public class ValidateConfigurationTest
         File global = new File( getBasedir(), "src/test/resources/settings/valid-settings.xml" );
 
         Configuration configuration = new DefaultConfiguration()
-            .setUserSettingsFile( global );
+            .setGlobalSettingsFile( global );
 
         ConfigurationValidationResult result = MavenEmbedder.validateConfiguration( configuration );