diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-provenance-repository-bundle/nifi-persistent-provenance-repository/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/provenance/index/lucene/IndexDirectoryManager.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-provenance-repository-bundle/nifi-persistent-provenance-repository/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/provenance/index/lucene/IndexDirectoryManager.java
index e9c94c3e67..9f59d07608 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-provenance-repository-bundle/nifi-persistent-provenance-repository/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/provenance/index/lucene/IndexDirectoryManager.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-provenance-repository-bundle/nifi-persistent-provenance-repository/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/provenance/index/lucene/IndexDirectoryManager.java
@@ -483,6 +483,8 @@ public class IndexDirectoryManager {
     }
 
     private boolean isParent(final File file, final File potentialParent) {
+        if (file == null) return false;
+
         final File parentFile = file.getParentFile();
         if (parentFile != null && parentFile.equals(potentialParent)) {
             return true;