diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/binding/DefaultLifecycleBindingManager.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/binding/DefaultLifecycleBindingManager.java
index cb3a725d4d..26e0f3d2f5 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/binding/DefaultLifecycleBindingManager.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/lifecycle/binding/DefaultLifecycleBindingManager.java
@@ -248,6 +248,12 @@ public class DefaultLifecycleBindingManager
                                         }
 
                                         MojoDescriptor mojoDescriptor = pluginDescriptor.getMojo( goal );
+                                        if(mojoDescriptor == null)
+                                        {
+                                            throw new LifecycleSpecificationException( "Mojo Descriptor for goal is invalid: Plugin = "
+                                                    + plugin.getKey() + ", Plugin Descriptor = "
+                                                    + pluginDescriptor.getPluginLookupKey() +", Goal = " + goal);
+                                        }
                                         phase = mojoDescriptor.getPhase();
 
                                         logger.debug( "Phase from plugin descriptor: " + mojoDescriptor.getFullGoalName() + " is: " + phase );
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/CLIReportingUtils.java b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/CLIReportingUtils.java
index f40f1f96a3..c37be679b4 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/CLIReportingUtils.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/cli/CLIReportingUtils.java
@@ -264,18 +264,20 @@ public final class CLIReportingUtils
         handleGenericException( e, showStackTraces, writer );
 
         MavenProject project = e.getProject();
-
-        writer.write( NEWLINE );
-        writer.write( "While building project with id: " );
-        writer.write( project.getId() );
-        writer.write( NEWLINE );
-        if ( project.getFile() != null )
+        if(project != null)
         {
-            writer.write( "Project File: " );
-            writer.write( project.getFile().getAbsolutePath() );
+            writer.write( NEWLINE );
+            writer.write( "While building project with id: " );
+            writer.write( project.getId() );
+            writer.write( NEWLINE );
+            if ( project.getFile() != null )
+            {
+                writer.write( "Project File: " );
+                writer.write( project.getFile().getAbsolutePath() );
+            }
+            writer.write( NEWLINE );
         }
-        writer.write( NEWLINE );
-
+        
         return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedderTest.java b/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedderTest.java
index 4c55ac3bee..64ff05fb15 100644
--- a/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedderTest.java
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/embedder/MavenEmbedderTest.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.apache.maven.settings.Settings;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.SettingsConfigurationException;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.io.xpp3.SettingsXpp3Reader;
 import org.apache.maven.settings.io.xpp3.SettingsXpp3Writer;
+import org.apache.maven.lifecycle.LifecycleSpecificationException;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.IOUtil;
 import org.codehaus.plexus.util.ReaderFactory;
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ public class MavenEmbedderTest
 
     protected MavenEmbedder maven;
 
+
     protected void setUp()
         throws Exception
     {
@@ -134,6 +136,30 @@ public class MavenEmbedderTest
         assertTrue( jar.exists() );
     }
 
+    /*MNG-3919*/
+    public void testWithInvalidGoal()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        File testDirectory = new File( basedir, "src/test/projects/invalid-goal" );
+
+        File targetDirectory = new File( basedir, "target/projects/invalid-goal" );
+
+        FileUtils.copyDirectoryStructure( testDirectory, targetDirectory );
+
+        MavenExecutionRequest request = new DefaultMavenExecutionRequest().setBaseDirectory( targetDirectory )
+            .setShowErrors( true ).setGoals( Arrays.asList( new String[]{"validate"} ) );
+
+        MavenExecutionResult result = maven.execute( request );
+        List exceptions = result.getExceptions();
+        assertEquals("Incorrect number of exceptions", 1, exceptions.size());
+
+        Iterator it = exceptions.iterator();
+        if( (it.next() instanceof NullPointerException))
+        {
+            fail("Null Pointer on Exception");
+        }
+    }
+
     public void testExecutionUsingAPomFile()
         throws Exception
     {
diff --git a/maven-embedder/src/test/projects/invalid-goal/pom.xml b/maven-embedder/src/test/projects/invalid-goal/pom.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d72b515ad3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maven-embedder/src/test/projects/invalid-goal/pom.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!--
+Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+distributed with this work for additional information
+regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+"License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+"AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+specific language governing permissions and limitations
+under the License.
+-->
+
+<project>
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+  <groupId>org.apache.maven.its.mng</groupId>
+  <artifactId>test1</artifactId>
+  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+
+  <packaging>jar</packaging>
+
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-site-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>2.0-beta-7</version>
+
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>invalid-goal</goal>
+            </goals>
+          </execution>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
+
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+</project>