diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSinkTask.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSinkTask.java
index 57a15bae4b..02dc8e385a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSinkTask.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSinkTask.java
@@ -153,7 +153,15 @@ public void put(Collection<SinkRecord> sinkRecords) {
     public void stop() {
         LOG.info("Stopping CamelSinkTask connector task");
         try {
-            cms.stop();
+            if (cms != null) {
+                /*
+                  If the CamelMainSupport instance fails to be instantiated (ie.: due to missing classes or similar
+                  issues) then it won't be assigned can de-referencing it could cause an NPE.
+                 */
+                cms.stop();
+            } else {
+                LOG.warn("A fatal exception may have occurred and the Camel main was not created");
+            }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new ConnectException("Failed to stop Camel context", e);
         } finally {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSourceTask.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSourceTask.java
index acdba59c6f..10f13133b2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSourceTask.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/CamelSourceTask.java
@@ -179,12 +179,24 @@ public synchronized List<SourceRecord> poll() {
     public void stop() {
         LOG.info("Stopping CamelSourceTask connector task");
         try {
-            consumer.stop();
+            if (consumer != null) {
+                consumer.stop();
+            } else {
+                LOG.warn("A critical error may have occurred and there is no consumer to stop");
+            }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             LOG.error("Error stopping camel consumer: {}", e.getMessage());
         }
         try {
-            cms.stop();
+            /*
+              If the CamelMainSupport instance fails to be instantiated (ie.: due to missing classes or similar
+              issues) then it won't be assigned can de-referencing it could cause an NPE.
+             */
+            if (cms != null) {
+                cms.stop();
+            } else {
+                LOG.warn("A fatal exception may have occurred and the Camel main was not created");
+            }
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new ConnectException("Failed to stop Camel context", e);
         } finally {
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/DataFormatTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/DataFormatTest.java
index 6b7abf3bf7..679d554818 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/DataFormatTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/kafkaconnector/DataFormatTest.java
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ public void testDataFormatNotFound() {
 
         CamelSinkTask camelsinkTask = new CamelSinkTask();
         assertThrows(ConnectException.class, () -> camelsinkTask.start(props));
-        assertThrows(ConnectException.class, () -> camelsinkTask.stop());
+        // No need to check the stop method. The error is already thrown/caught during startup.
     }
 
     @Test