diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplication.java b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplication.java
index dc92f92..3627974 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplication.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/hyracks/bootstrap/CCApplication.java
@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.common.context.IStorageComponentProvider;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.dataflow.ICcApplicationContext;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.library.ILibraryManager;
-import org.apache.asterix.metadata.lock.MetadataLockManager;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.replication.IFaultToleranceStrategy;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.replication.IReplicationStrategy;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.utils.Servlets;
@@ -76,6 +75,7 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.api.IAsterixStateProxy;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.bootstrap.AsterixStateProxy;
 import org.apache.asterix.metadata.cluster.ClusterManagerProvider;
+import org.apache.asterix.metadata.lock.MetadataLockManager;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.job.resource.JobCapacityController;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.utils.CcApplicationContext;
 import org.apache.asterix.runtime.utils.ClusterStateManager;
@@ -183,7 +183,9 @@
 
     @Override
     public void stop() throws Exception {
-        ((ActiveNotificationHandler) appCtx.getActiveNotificationHandler()).stop();
+        if (appCtx != null) {
+            ((ActiveNotificationHandler) appCtx.getActiveNotificationHandler()).stop();
+        }
         if (LOGGER.isLoggable(Level.INFO)) {
             LOGGER.info("Stopping Asterix cluster controller");
         }