diff --git a/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata.java b/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata.java
index 812e433d7d..f4ee9e5547 100644
--- a/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata.java
+++ b/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public class SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata
     public SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata( Artifact artifact )
     {
         this.artifact = artifact;
+        this.snapshot = new Snapshot();
     }
 
     public SnapshotArtifactRepositoryMetadata( Artifact artifact, Snapshot snapshot )