diff --git a/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/nc/dataset/ResultState.java b/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/nc/dataset/ResultState.java
index 0cd9cec..ce37f33 100644
--- a/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/nc/dataset/ResultState.java
+++ b/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-nc/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/control/nc/dataset/ResultState.java
@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@
                 // Since file handle could not be closed, just ignore.
             }
         }
-        fileRef.delete();
+        if (fileRef != null) {
+            fileRef.delete();
+        }
     }
 
     public synchronized void write(DatasetMemoryManager datasetMemoryManager, ByteBuffer buffer)