diff --git a/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/runtime/Ops.java b/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/runtime/Ops.java
index 0bfa214bfb..7054487251 100644
--- a/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/runtime/Ops.java
+++ b/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/runtime/Ops.java
@@ -2573,7 +2573,7 @@ public static SixModelObject setcontspec(SixModelObject obj, String confname, Si
         return obj;
     }
     public static long iscont(SixModelObject obj) {
-        return obj.st.ContainerSpec == null ? 0 : 1;
+        return obj == null || obj.st.ContainerSpec == null ? 0 : 1;
     }
     public static SixModelObject decont(SixModelObject obj, ThreadContext tc) {
         if (obj == null)