diff --git a/changelog.html b/changelog.html
index e3949d2bc599e727027354a35397fc713990b625..494b3fa505e1239a07c2dd0dc7b5014e493f5daa 100644
--- a/changelog.html
+++ b/changelog.html
@@ -63,6 +63,9 @@ Upcoming changes</a>
   <li class=bug>
     NPE from <code>MatrixConfiguration.newBuild</code>.
     (<a href="https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/browse/JENKINS-17728">issue 17728</a>)
+  <li class='major bug'>
+    NPE configuring Copy Artifact with Maven jobs.
+    (<a href="https://issues.jenkins-ci.org/browse/JENKINS-17402">issue 17402</a>)
   <li class=rfe>
     <code>/about</code> now links to license information for plugins as well.
   <li class=rfe>
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/ItemGroup.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/ItemGroup.java
index 9c7fe37d7cc45bdcb67c29e92bb9582f5391f09d..a87814eb9d8a8423e64c0c8401958084c48f2bfb 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/ItemGroup.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/model/ItemGroup.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ package hudson.model;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.io.File;
+import javax.annotation.CheckForNull;
 
 /**
  * Represents a grouping inherent to a kind of {@link Item}s.
@@ -64,9 +65,9 @@ public interface ItemGroup<T extends Item> extends PersistenceRoot, ModelObject
     String getUrlChildPrefix();
 
     /**
-     * Gets the {@link Item} inside this group that has a given name.
+     * Gets the {@link Item} inside this group that has a given name, or null if it does not exist.
      */
-    T getItem(String name);
+    @CheckForNull T getItem(String name);
 
     /**
      * Assigns the {@link Item#getRootDir() root directory} for children.
diff --git a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSet.java b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSet.java
index 31c594da425f35813279b990711c68582cc3e4a6..d17b8be66a0143d966db8cbab8955b1856934f69 100644
--- a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSet.java
+++ b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSet.java
@@ -434,7 +434,11 @@ public class MavenModuleSet extends AbstractMavenProject<MavenModuleSet,MavenMod
     }
 
     public MavenModule getItem(String name) {
-        return modules.get(ModuleName.fromString(name));
+        try {
+            return modules.get(ModuleName.fromString(name));
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException x) {
+            return null; // not a Maven module name, ignore
+        }
     }
 
     public MavenModule getModule(String name) {
diff --git a/test/src/test/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSetTest.java b/test/src/test/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSetTest.java
index f51ff064523d770438bcf944fa3c1a7dfaffafb1..2b379d7c017fc0f7825a1b42ebf50542a1f8c345 100644
--- a/test/src/test/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSetTest.java
+++ b/test/src/test/java/hudson/maven/MavenModuleSetTest.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package hudson.maven;
 
 import hudson.maven.local_repo.PerJobLocalRepositoryLocator;
 import hudson.model.Item;
+import org.jvnet.hudson.test.Bug;
 
 import org.jvnet.hudson.test.HudsonTestCase;
 
@@ -22,4 +23,10 @@ public class MavenModuleSetTest extends HudsonTestCase {
         assertEqualDataBoundBeans(p.getLocalRepository(),before);
         assertTrue(before!=p.getLocalRepository());
     }
+
+    @Bug(17402)
+    public void testGetItem() throws Exception {
+        assertNull(createMavenProject().getItem("invalid"));
+    }
+
 }