diff --git a/core/java/android/widget/SelectionActionModeHelper.java b/core/java/android/widget/SelectionActionModeHelper.java
index d22b1e66b5966..6cb0eaa7f47d7 100644
--- a/core/java/android/widget/SelectionActionModeHelper.java
+++ b/core/java/android/widget/SelectionActionModeHelper.java
@@ -285,10 +285,14 @@ public final class SelectionActionModeHelper {
         final Layout layout = mTextView.getLayout();
 
         final Runnable onAnimationEndCallback = () -> {
-            if (result.mStart >= 0 && result.mEnd <= getText(mTextView).length()
+            final SelectionResult startSelectionResult;
+            if (result != null && result.mStart >= 0 && result.mEnd <= getText(mTextView).length()
                     && result.mStart <= result.mEnd) {
-                startSelectionActionMode(result);
+                startSelectionResult = result;
+            } else {
+                startSelectionResult = null;
             }
+            startSelectionActionMode(startSelectionResult);
         };
         // TODO do not trigger the animation if the change included only non-printable characters
         final boolean didSelectionChange =