diff --git a/util-rabbitmq/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/util/rabbitmq/RabbitUtil.java b/util-rabbitmq/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/util/rabbitmq/RabbitUtil.java
index 53d0480a9..52101e4b0 100644
--- a/util-rabbitmq/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/util/rabbitmq/RabbitUtil.java
+++ b/util-rabbitmq/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/util/rabbitmq/RabbitUtil.java
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ public static Connection createRabbitConnection(final RabbitConfiguration rc,
                 final TrustManagerFactory trustManagerFactory = TrustManagerFactory.getInstance(tmfAlgorithm);
                 trustManagerFactory.init((KeyStore) null);
 
-                final SSLContext context = SSLContext.getInstance("TLS");
+                final SSLContext context = SSLContext.getInstance("TLSv1.2");
                 context.init(null, trustManagerFactory.getTrustManagers(), null);
 
                 factory.useSslProtocol(context);
diff --git a/worker-queue-rabbit/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/worker/queue/rabbit/RabbitWorkerQueue.java b/worker-queue-rabbit/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/worker/queue/rabbit/RabbitWorkerQueue.java
index 884574c41..eb171a1b6 100644
--- a/worker-queue-rabbit/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/worker/queue/rabbit/RabbitWorkerQueue.java
+++ b/worker-queue-rabbit/src/main/java/com/hpe/caf/worker/queue/rabbit/RabbitWorkerQueue.java
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ public WorkerQueueMetricsReporter getMetrics()
     @Override
     public HealthResult healthCheck()
     {
-        if (!conn.isOpen()) {
+        if (conn == null || !conn.isOpen()) {
             return new HealthResult(HealthStatus.UNHEALTHY, "Rabbit connection failed");
         } else if (!incomingChannel.isOpen()) {
             return new HealthResult(HealthStatus.UNHEALTHY, "Incoming channel failed");