diff --git a/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/source/SourceReference.java b/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/source/SourceReference.java
index dba826683..cfad29816 100644
--- a/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/source/SourceReference.java
+++ b/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/source/SourceReference.java
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ public class SourceReference {
     public SourceReference copyForInheritanceTo(SourceMethod method) {
         List<Parameter> replacementParamCandidates = new ArrayList<Parameter>();
         for ( Parameter sourceParam : method.getSourceParameters() ) {
-            if ( sourceParam.getType().isAssignableTo( parameter.getType() ) ) {
+            if ( parameter != null && sourceParam.getType().isAssignableTo( parameter.getType() ) ) {
                 replacementParamCandidates.add( sourceParam );
             }
         }
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/ErroneousIssue1180Mapper.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/ErroneousIssue1180Mapper.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be815188c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/ErroneousIssue1180Mapper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2017 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.bugs._1180;
+
+import org.mapstruct.InheritConfiguration;
+import org.mapstruct.Mapper;
+
+/**
+ * @author Filip Hrisafov
+ */
+@Mapper( config = SharedConfig.class )
+public abstract class ErroneousIssue1180Mapper {
+
+    @InheritConfiguration
+    public abstract Target map(Source source);
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Issue1180Test.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Issue1180Test.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3953d6950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Issue1180Test.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2017 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.bugs._1180;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.mapstruct.ap.testutil.IssueKey;
+import org.mapstruct.ap.testutil.WithClasses;
+import org.mapstruct.ap.testutil.compilation.annotation.CompilationResult;
+import org.mapstruct.ap.testutil.compilation.annotation.Diagnostic;
+import org.mapstruct.ap.testutil.compilation.annotation.ExpectedCompilationOutcome;
+import org.mapstruct.ap.testutil.runner.AnnotationProcessorTestRunner;
+
+/**
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+@WithClasses( {
+    Source.class,
+    Target.class,
+    SharedConfig.class,
+    ErroneousIssue1180Mapper.class
+} )
+@RunWith(AnnotationProcessorTestRunner.class)
+@IssueKey( "1180" )
+public class Issue1180Test {
+
+    @Test
+    @ExpectedCompilationOutcome(value = CompilationResult.FAILED,
+        diagnostics = {
+            @Diagnostic(type = SharedConfig.class,
+                kind = javax.tools.Diagnostic.Kind.ERROR,
+                line = 33,
+                messageRegExp = "No property named \"sourceProperty\\.nonExistant\" exists.*")
+        })
+    public void shouldCompileButNotGiveNullPointer() {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/SharedConfig.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/SharedConfig.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a0dc7f629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/SharedConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2017 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.bugs._1180;
+
+import org.mapstruct.MapperConfig;
+import org.mapstruct.Mapping;
+import org.mapstruct.Mappings;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+@MapperConfig
+public interface SharedConfig {
+
+    @Mappings({
+        @Mapping(target = "targetProperty", source = "sourceProperty.nonExistant")
+    })
+    Target map(Source source);
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Source.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Source.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f8d57efb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Source.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2017 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.bugs._1180;
+
+/**
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+public class Source {
+
+    private String sourceProperty;
+
+    public String getSourceProperty() {
+        return sourceProperty;
+    }
+
+    public void setSourceProperty(String sourceProperty) {
+        this.sourceProperty = sourceProperty;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Target.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Target.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8948548f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_1180/Target.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2017 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.bugs._1180;
+
+/**
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+public class Target {
+
+    private String targetProperty;
+
+    public String getTargetProperty() {
+        return targetProperty;
+    }
+
+    public void setTargetProperty(String targetProperty) {
+        this.targetProperty = targetProperty;
+    }
+
+}