diff --git a/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java b/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java
index a0e61e23b..acfa1b7f1 100644
--- a/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java
+++ b/google-cloud-bigquery/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/bigquery/BigQueryImpl.java
@@ -427,7 +427,9 @@ public com.google.api.services.bigquery.model.Job call() {
     }
 
     if (!idRandom) {
-      if (createException instanceof BigQueryException && createException.getCause() != null) {
+      if (createException instanceof BigQueryException
+          && createException.getCause() != null
+          && createException.getCause().getMessage() != null) {
 
         /*GoogleJsonResponseException createExceptionCause =
         (GoogleJsonResponseException) createException.getCause();*/