diff --git a/framework/src/play/vfs/VirtualFile.java b/framework/src/play/vfs/VirtualFile.java
index add54421a3..d8b165146b 100644
--- a/framework/src/play/vfs/VirtualFile.java
+++ b/framework/src/play/vfs/VirtualFile.java
@@ -230,6 +230,9 @@ public static VirtualFile search(Collection<VirtualFile> roots, String path) {
     }
 
     public static VirtualFile fromRelativePath(String relativePath) {
+        if (relativePath == null) { // avoid NPE in pattern.matcher(relativePath)
+            return null;
+        }
         Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile("^(\\{(.+?)\\})?(.*)$");
         Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(relativePath);