diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java
index 1726388f93..a6fe0ab15e 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java
@@ -1025,17 +1025,19 @@ public class DefaultLifecycleExecutor
     //
     public Set<Plugin> getPluginsBoundByDefaultToAllLifecycles( String packaging )
     {
+        LifecycleMapping lifecycleMappingForPackaging = lifecycleMappings.get( packaging );
+
+        if ( lifecycleMappingForPackaging == null )
+        {
+            return null;
+        }
+
         Map<Plugin, Plugin> plugins = new LinkedHashMap<Plugin, Plugin>();
-        
+
         for ( Lifecycle lifecycle : lifecycles )
         {
-            LifecycleMapping lifecycleMappingForPackaging = lifecycleMappings.get( packaging );
-
-            org.apache.maven.lifecycle.mapping.Lifecycle lifecycleConfiguration = null;
-            if ( lifecycleMappingForPackaging != null )
-            {
-                lifecycleConfiguration = lifecycleMappingForPackaging.getLifecycles().get( lifecycle.getId() );
-            }
+            org.apache.maven.lifecycle.mapping.Lifecycle lifecycleConfiguration =
+                lifecycleMappingForPackaging.getLifecycles().get( lifecycle.getId() );
 
             if ( lifecycleConfiguration != null )
             {
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/LifecycleExecutor.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/LifecycleExecutor.java
index e3da7cead1..3ffe9fbd56 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/LifecycleExecutor.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/LifecycleExecutor.java
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ public interface LifecycleExecutor
     // We need to know the specific version so that we can lookup the right version of the plugin descriptor
     // which tells us what the default configuration is.
     //
+    /**
+     * @return The plugins bound to the lifecycles of the specified packaging or {@code null} if the packaging is
+     *         unknown.
+     */
     Set<Plugin> getPluginsBoundByDefaultToAllLifecycles( String packaging );
 
     // Given a set of {@link org.apache.maven.Plugin} objects where the GAV is set we can lookup the plugin
diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/plugin/DefaultLifecycleBindingsInjector.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/plugin/DefaultLifecycleBindingsInjector.java
index 020d7adff6..2abd7dd0df 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/plugin/DefaultLifecycleBindingsInjector.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/model/plugin/DefaultLifecycleBindingsInjector.java
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ public class DefaultLifecycleBindingsInjector
 
         Collection<Plugin> defaultPlugins = lifecycle.getPluginsBoundByDefaultToAllLifecycles( packaging );
 
-        if ( !defaultPlugins.isEmpty() )
+        // TODO: A bad packaging is a model error, we need to report this as such!
+
+        if ( defaultPlugins != null && !defaultPlugins.isEmpty() )
         {
             Model lifecycleModel = new Model();
             lifecycleModel.setBuild( new Build() );