diff --git a/engine/orchestration/src/com/cloud/vm/VirtualMachineManagerImpl.java b/engine/orchestration/src/com/cloud/vm/VirtualMachineManagerImpl.java
index 5c5838951f98..300475af88b7 100644
--- a/engine/orchestration/src/com/cloud/vm/VirtualMachineManagerImpl.java
+++ b/engine/orchestration/src/com/cloud/vm/VirtualMachineManagerImpl.java
@@ -2641,7 +2641,7 @@ public void syncVMMetaData(final Map<String, String> vmMetadatum) {
 
             if(!found) {
                 VMInstanceVO vm = _vmDao.findVMByInstanceName(name);
-                if(vm.getType() == VirtualMachine.Type.User) {
+                if(vm != null && vm.getType() == VirtualMachine.Type.User) {
                     updateVmMetaData(vm.getId(), platform);
                 }
             }