diff --git a/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java b/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java
index 5885b6b50abde..c878bba4edfe6 100644
--- a/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java
+++ b/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public class SettingsValidators {
     public static final Validator COMPONENT_NAME_VALIDATOR = new Validator() {
         @Override
         public boolean validate(String value) {
-            return ComponentName.unflattenFromString(value) != null;
+            return value != null && ComponentName.unflattenFromString(value) != null;
         }
     };
 
diff --git a/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java b/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java
index e7507667b17f5..c4d5b0c0358da 100644
--- a/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java
+++ b/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@
 
 package android.provider;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 import android.platform.test.annotations.Presubmit;
 import android.provider.SettingsValidators.Validator;
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@ public class SettingsValidatorsTest {
         assertFalse(SettingsValidators.COMPONENT_NAME_VALIDATOR.validate("rectangle"));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testComponentNameValidator_onNullValue_doesNotThrow() {
+        assertFalse(SettingsValidators.COMPONENT_NAME_VALIDATOR.validate(null));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testLocaleValidator() {
         assertTrue(SettingsValidators.LOCALE_VALIDATOR.validate("en_US"));