diff --git a/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/PropertyMapping.java b/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/PropertyMapping.java
index e4f6410c5..0dc269c87 100644
--- a/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/PropertyMapping.java
+++ b/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/internal/model/PropertyMapping.java
@@ -348,6 +348,12 @@ public class PropertyMapping extends ModelElement {
                 return result;
             }
 
+            // a nested source reference will take the bean mapping parameter itself, no null check is required
+            // since this is handled by the BeanMapping
+            if ( sourceReference.getPropertyEntries().size() > 1 ) {
+                return result;
+            }
+
             // add a null / presence checked when required
             if ( sourceType.isPrimitive() ) {
                 if ( getSourcePresenceCheckerRef() != null ) {
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/Commit.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/Commit.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c75350e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/Commit.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2016 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._843;
+
+import java.util.Date;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+public class Commit {
+
+    private static int callCounter;
+
+    private Date authoredDate;
+
+    public Date getAuthoredDate() {
+        callCounter++;
+        return authoredDate;
+    }
+
+    public void setAuthoredDate(Date authoredDate) {
+        this.authoredDate = authoredDate;
+    }
+
+    public static int getCallCounter() {
+        return callCounter;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/GitlabTag.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/GitlabTag.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b7764edd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/GitlabTag.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2016 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._843;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+public class GitlabTag {
+
+    private static int callCounter = 0;
+
+    private Commit commit;
+
+    public Commit getCommit() {
+        callCounter++;
+        return commit;
+    }
+
+    public void setCommit(Commit commit) {
+        this.commit = commit;
+    }
+
+    public static int getCallCounter() {
+        return callCounter;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/Issue843Test.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/Issue843Test.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a55219de6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/Issue843Test.java
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2016 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._843;
+
+import java.util.Date;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+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.runner.AnnotationProcessorTestRunner;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+@RunWith(AnnotationProcessorTestRunner.class)
+@WithClasses({
+    Commit.class,
+    TagInfo.class,
+    GitlabTag.class,
+    TagMapper.class
+})
+@IssueKey("843")
+public class Issue843Test {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testMapperCreation() {
+
+        Commit commit = new Commit();
+        commit.setAuthoredDate( new Date() );
+        GitlabTag gitlabTag = new GitlabTag();
+        gitlabTag.setCommit( commit );
+
+        TagMapper.INSTANCE.gitlabTagToTagInfo( gitlabTag );
+
+        assertThat( Commit.getCallCounter() ).isEqualTo( 1 );
+        assertThat( GitlabTag.getCallCounter() ).isEqualTo( 1 );
+
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/TagInfo.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/TagInfo.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..12287ab4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/TagInfo.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2016 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._843;
+
+import java.util.Date;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+public class TagInfo {
+
+    private Date date;
+
+    public Date getDate() {
+        return date;
+    }
+
+    public void setDate(Date date) {
+        this.date = date;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/TagMapper.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/TagMapper.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86e4a30c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/bugs/_843/TagMapper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2016 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._843;
+
+import org.mapstruct.Mapper;
+import org.mapstruct.Mapping;
+import org.mapstruct.NullValueCheckStrategy;
+import org.mapstruct.factory.Mappers;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+@Mapper( nullValueCheckStrategy = NullValueCheckStrategy.ALWAYS )
+public interface TagMapper {
+
+    TagMapper INSTANCE = Mappers.getMapper( TagMapper.class );
+
+    @Mapping(target = "date", source = "gitlabTag.commit.authoredDate")
+    TagInfo gitlabTagToTagInfo(GitlabTag gitlabTag);
+}