diff --git a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/i18n/I18n.java b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/i18n/I18n.java
index ba264f9861..85f58495de 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/i18n/I18n.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/i18n/I18n.java
@@ -230,7 +230,9 @@ private void checkForChangeInThemeDirectory(ServletContext ctx) {
 		WebappDaoFactory wdf = ModelAccess.on(ctx)
 			.getWebappDaoFactory();
 		// Only applicable if context has a complete model access
-		if (Objects.nonNull(wdf)) {
+		if (Objects.nonNull(wdf)
+				&& Objects.nonNull(wdf.getApplicationDao())
+				&& Objects.nonNull(wdf.getApplicationDao().getApplicationBean())) {
 			String currentDir = wdf
 				.getApplicationDao()
 				.getApplicationBean()