diff --git a/modules/swagger-parser/src/main/java/io/swagger/parser/util/SwaggerDeserializer.java b/modules/swagger-parser/src/main/java/io/swagger/parser/util/SwaggerDeserializer.java
index 4556e3f21a..7be75ddfe6 100644
--- a/modules/swagger-parser/src/main/java/io/swagger/parser/util/SwaggerDeserializer.java
+++ b/modules/swagger-parser/src/main/java/io/swagger/parser/util/SwaggerDeserializer.java
@@ -912,8 +912,10 @@ public Model definition(ObjectNode node, String location, ParseResult result) {
                     if(propertyNode.getNodeType().equals(JsonNodeType.OBJECT)) {
                         ObjectNode on = (ObjectNode) propertyNode;
                         Property property = property(on, location, result);
-                        if("array".equals( property.getType()) && !(property instanceof ArrayProperty && ((ArrayProperty) property).getItems() != null)) {
-                            result.missing(location, "items");
+                        if (property != null) {
+                            if ("array".equals(property.getType()) && !(property instanceof ArrayProperty && ((ArrayProperty) property).getItems() != null)) {
+                                result.missing(location, "items");
+                            }
                         }
                         impl.property(propertyName, property);
                     }