diff --git a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFParagraph.java b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFParagraph.java
index 532a149671..f1ffed9840 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFParagraph.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFParagraph.java
@@ -821,7 +821,7 @@ public boolean isPageBreak() {
         CTOnOff ctPageBreak = ppr.isSetPageBreakBefore() ? ppr
                 .getPageBreakBefore() : null;
         if (ctPageBreak != null
-                && ctPageBreak.getVal().intValue() == STOnOff.INT_TRUE) {
+                && ctPageBreak.getVal() != null && ctPageBreak.getVal().intValue() == STOnOff.INT_TRUE) {
             return true;
         }
         return false;