diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-jms-bundle/nifi-jms-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/jms/processors/MessageBodyToBytesConverter.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-jms-bundle/nifi-jms-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/jms/processors/MessageBodyToBytesConverter.java
index e23e795750..7dd77e48eb 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-jms-bundle/nifi-jms-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/jms/processors/MessageBodyToBytesConverter.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-jms-bundle/nifi-jms-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/jms/processors/MessageBodyToBytesConverter.java
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ abstract class MessageBodyToBytesConverter {
      */
     public static byte[] toBytes(TextMessage message, Charset charset) {
         try {
+            if (message.getText() == null) {
+                return new byte[0];
+            }
             if (charset == null) {
                 return message.getText().getBytes();
             } else {
@@ -72,7 +75,6 @@ abstract class MessageBodyToBytesConverter {
         }
     }
 
-
     private static class BytesMessageInputStream extends InputStream {
         private BytesMessage message;
 
@@ -112,7 +114,6 @@ abstract class MessageBodyToBytesConverter {
         }
     }
 
-
     static class MessageConversionException extends RuntimeException {
         private static final long serialVersionUID = -1464448549601643887L;