diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/storage/DatasetResourceReference.java b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/storage/DatasetResourceReference.java
index dc37fc2..6fd1c6a 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/storage/DatasetResourceReference.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-common/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/common/storage/DatasetResourceReference.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package org.apache.asterix.common.storage;
 
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.Objects;
 
 import org.apache.asterix.common.dataflow.DatasetLocalResource;
 import org.apache.asterix.common.utils.StorageConstants;
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@
     }
 
     public static DatasetResourceReference of(LocalResource localResource) {
+        Objects.requireNonNull(localResource);
         return parse(localResource);
     }
 
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-replication/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/replication/management/IndexReplicationManager.java b/asterixdb/asterix-replication/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/replication/management/IndexReplicationManager.java
index 4d660d2..dd953c4 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-replication/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/replication/management/IndexReplicationManager.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-replication/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/replication/management/IndexReplicationManager.java
@@ -131,9 +131,14 @@
 
     private boolean skip(IReplicationJob job) {
         try {
-            final DatasetResourceReference indexFileRef =
-                    resourceRepository.getLocalResourceReference(job.getAnyFile());
-            return !replicationStrategy.isMatch(indexFileRef.getDatasetId());
+            final String fileToReplicate = job.getAnyFile();
+            final Optional<DatasetResourceReference> indexFileRefOpt =
+                    resourceRepository.getLocalResourceReference(fileToReplicate);
+            if (!indexFileRefOpt.isPresent()) {
+                LOGGER.warn("skipping replication of {} due to missing dataset resource reference", fileToReplicate);
+                return true;
+            }
+            return !replicationStrategy.isMatch(indexFileRefOpt.get().getDatasetId());
         } catch (HyracksDataException e) {
             throw new IllegalStateException("Couldn't find resource for " + job.getAnyFile(), e);
         }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java b/asterixdb/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java
index 145be86..508eb76 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-transactions/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/transaction/management/resource/PersistentLocalResourceRepository.java
@@ -346,10 +346,11 @@
                 .collect(Collectors.toSet());
     }
 
-    public DatasetResourceReference getLocalResourceReference(String absoluteFilePath) throws HyracksDataException {
+    public Optional<DatasetResourceReference> getLocalResourceReference(String absoluteFilePath)
+            throws HyracksDataException {
         final String localResourcePath = StoragePathUtil.getIndexFileRelativePath(absoluteFilePath);
         final LocalResource lr = get(localResourcePath);
-        return DatasetResourceReference.of(lr);
+        return lr != null ? Optional.of(DatasetResourceReference.of(lr)) : Optional.empty();
     }
 
     /**