diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/pom.xml b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/pom.xml
index c8fd38d3ac..cec2d9ddb0 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/pom.xml
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/pom.xml
@@ -42,4 +42,18 @@
             <artifactId>nifi-record</artifactId>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
+    <build>
+        <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>org.apache.rat</groupId>
+                <artifactId>apache-rat-plugin</artifactId>
+                <configuration>
+                    <excludes combine.children="append">
+                        <exclude>src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/data.avro</exclude>
+                        <exclude>src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/schema.json</exclude>
+                    </excludes>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
 </project>
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/AvroTypeUtil.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/AvroTypeUtil.java
index cc1fd38d19..adbb6e36a2 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/AvroTypeUtil.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/AvroTypeUtil.java
@@ -626,6 +626,7 @@ public class AvroTypeUtil {
         final Map<String, Object> values = new HashMap<>(recordSchema.getFieldCount());
 
         for (final RecordField recordField : recordSchema.getFields()) {
+
             Object value = avroRecord.get(recordField.getFieldName());
             if (value == null) {
                 for (final String alias : recordField.getAliases()) {
@@ -637,6 +638,7 @@ public class AvroTypeUtil {
             }
 
             final String fieldName = recordField.getFieldName();
+            try {
             final Field avroField = avroRecord.getSchema().getField(fieldName);
             if (avroField == null) {
                 values.put(fieldName, null);
@@ -650,6 +652,10 @@ public class AvroTypeUtil {
             final Object coercedValue = DataTypeUtils.convertType(rawValue, desiredType, fieldName);
 
             values.put(fieldName, coercedValue);
+            } catch (Exception ex) {
+                logger.debug("fail to convert field " + fieldName, ex );
+                throw ex;
+            }
         }
 
         return values;
@@ -716,6 +722,10 @@ public class AvroTypeUtil {
                     return true;
                 }
                 break;
+            case MAP:
+                if (value instanceof Map) {
+                    return true;
+                }
         }
 
         return DataTypeUtils.isCompatibleDataType(value, dataType);
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/TestAvroTypeUtil.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/TestAvroTypeUtil.java
index b0178298a5..cf096aab28 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/TestAvroTypeUtil.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/avro/TestAvroTypeUtil.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package org.apache.nifi.avro;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ import java.util.Optional;
 import org.apache.avro.Schema;
 import org.apache.avro.Schema.Field;
 import org.apache.avro.Schema.Type;
+import org.apache.avro.file.DataFileStream;
+import org.apache.avro.generic.GenericDatumReader;
+import org.apache.avro.generic.GenericRecord;
 import org.apache.nifi.schema.access.SchemaNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.nifi.serialization.SimpleRecordSchema;
 import org.apache.nifi.serialization.record.DataType;
@@ -239,4 +243,20 @@ public class TestAvroTypeUtil {
         Assert.assertEquals(recordASchema, ((RecordDataType)recordBParentField.get().getDataType()).getChildSchema());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testMapWithNullSchema() throws IOException {
+
+        Schema recursiveSchema = new Schema.Parser().parse(getClass().getResourceAsStream("schema.json"));
+
+        // Make sure the following doesn't throw an exception
+        RecordSchema recordASchema = AvroTypeUtil.createSchema(recursiveSchema.getTypes().get(0));
+
+        // check the fix with the proper file
+        try(DataFileStream<GenericRecord> r = new DataFileStream<>(getClass().getResourceAsStream("data.avro"),
+                new GenericDatumReader<>())) {
+            GenericRecord n= r.next();
+            AvroTypeUtil.convertAvroRecordToMap(n, recordASchema);
+        }
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/data.avro b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/data.avro
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..139f244bfb
Binary files /dev/null and b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/data.avro differ
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/schema.json b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f6fd74b28a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-extension-utils/nifi-record-utils/nifi-avro-record-utils/src/test/resources/org/apache/nifi/avro/schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+[ {
+	"namespace" : "net.a",
+	"type" : "record",
+	"name" : "O",
+	"fields" : [ {
+		"name" : "hash",
+		"type" : [ "null", {
+			"type" : "map",
+			"values" : "string"
+		} ]
+	} ]
+}, {
+	"namespace" : "net.a",
+	"type" : "record",
+	"name" : "A",
+	"fields" : [ {
+		"name" : "o",
+		"type" : [ "null", "O" ]
+	}]
+} ]
\ No newline at end of file