diff --git a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifact.java b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifact.java
index e28709477c..c507aad6aa 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifact.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifact.java
@@ -357,14 +357,11 @@ public class DefaultArtifact
 
     public String getBaseVersion()
     {
-        if ( baseVersion == null )
+        if ( baseVersion == null && version != null )
         {
-            if ( version == null )
-            {
-                throw new NullPointerException( "version was null for " + groupId + ":" + artifactId );
-            }
             setBaseVersionInternal( version );
         }
+
         return baseVersion;
     }
 
diff --git a/maven-compat/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifactTest.java b/maven-compat/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifactTest.java
index 7344d6d2bd..fbd0119161 100644
--- a/maven-compat/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifactTest.java
+++ b/maven-compat/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/DefaultArtifactTest.java
@@ -127,4 +127,14 @@ public class DefaultArtifactTest
         assertTrue( artifact.compareTo( artifact1 ) == 0 );
         assertTrue( artifact1.compareTo( artifact ) == 0 );
     }
+
+    public void testNonResolvedVersionRangeConsistentlyYieldsNullVersions()
+        throws Exception
+    {
+        VersionRange vr = VersionRange.createFromVersionSpec( "[1.0,2.0)" );
+        artifact = new DefaultArtifact( groupId, artifactId, vr, scope, type, null, artifactHandler );
+        assertEquals( null, artifact.getVersion() );
+        assertEquals( null, artifact.getBaseVersion() );
+    }
+
 }