diff --git a/src/share/classes/java/io/ObjectOutputStream.java b/src/share/classes/java/io/ObjectOutputStream.java
index 612bb4eb16b1768d4da4e10e3c5593eda7fe9912..6d29e3a1fe14610287aadae8321356ea28e2eb31 100644
--- a/src/share/classes/java/io/ObjectOutputStream.java
+++ b/src/share/classes/java/io/ObjectOutputStream.java
@@ -1255,7 +1255,7 @@ public class ObjectOutputStream
         }
 
         bout.setBlockDataMode(true);
-        if (isCustomSubclass()) {
+        if (cl != null && isCustomSubclass()) {
             ReflectUtil.checkPackageAccess(cl);
         }
         annotateProxyClass(cl);
@@ -1284,7 +1284,7 @@ public class ObjectOutputStream
 
         Class<?> cl = desc.forClass();
         bout.setBlockDataMode(true);
-        if (isCustomSubclass()) {
+        if (cl != null && isCustomSubclass()) {
             ReflectUtil.checkPackageAccess(cl);
         }
         annotateClass(cl);
diff --git a/test/java/io/Serializable/unresolvableObjectStreamClass/UnresolvableObjectStreamClass.java b/test/java/io/Serializable/unresolvableObjectStreamClass/UnresolvableObjectStreamClass.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..4010b1a76fa2b0685b0f5f6bc4e0a9cd4dd1371e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/java/io/Serializable/unresolvableObjectStreamClass/UnresolvableObjectStreamClass.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2014, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+/* @test
+ * @bug 8039396
+ * @run main UnresolvableObjectStreamClass serialize
+ * @clean MySerializable
+ * @run main UnresolvableObjectStreamClass deserialize
+ *
+ * @summary NPE when writing a class descriptor object to a custom
+ *          ObjectOutputStream
+ */
+
+import java.io.*;
+
+public class UnresolvableObjectStreamClass {
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Throwable {
+        if (args.length > 0 && args[0].equals("serialize")) {
+            try (FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("temp1.ser");
+                 ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos)) {
+                ObjectStreamClass osc =
+                         ObjectStreamClass.lookup(MySerializable.class);
+                oos.writeObject(osc);
+            }
+        } else if (args.length > 0 && args[0].equals("deserialize")) {
+            try (FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream("temp1.ser");
+                 ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(fis);
+                 FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("temp2.ser");
+                 ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(fos) {
+                         /*must be subclassed*/}) {
+                ObjectStreamClass osc = (ObjectStreamClass)ois.readObject();
+                // serialize it again
+                try {
+                    oos.writeObject(osc);
+                } catch (NullPointerException e) {
+                    throw new RuntimeException("Failed to write" +
+                            " unresolvable ObjectStreamClass", e);
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw new RuntimeException("The command line option must be" +
+                                       " one of: serialize or deserialize");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+class MySerializable implements Serializable {
+}