diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/LiveBeansView.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/LiveBeansView.java
index e76ed0fed4c..7c7bb1eeaf7 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/LiveBeansView.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/support/LiveBeansView.java
@@ -220,6 +220,9 @@ public class LiveBeansView implements LiveBeansViewMBean, ApplicationContextAwar
 	 */
 	protected String getEscapedResourceDescription(BeanDefinition bd) {
 		String resourceDescription = bd.getResourceDescription();
+		if (resourceDescription == null) {
+			return null;
+		}
 		StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(resourceDescription.length() + 16);
 		for (int i = 0; i < resourceDescription.length(); i++) {
 			char character = resourceDescription.charAt(i);