diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkProcessor.java b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkProcessor.java
index be26f318625..a6e4c70b056 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkProcessor.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/bulk/BulkProcessor.java
@@ -145,6 +145,10 @@ public class BulkProcessor implements Closeable {
     }
 
     public static Builder builder(Client client, Listener listener) {
+        if (client == null) {
+            throw new Exception("The client you specified while building a BulkProcessor is null");
+        }
+        
         return new Builder(client, listener);
     }