diff --git a/src/main/java/org/olat/core/commons/services/vfs/manager/VFSRepositoryServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/olat/core/commons/services/vfs/manager/VFSRepositoryServiceImpl.java
index 3130a6809c5d91fdcbd25cfdd885d5d524db46bb..216d30c33a53cce14d599d2ec71bcc21f1f7a4c4 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/olat/core/commons/services/vfs/manager/VFSRepositoryServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/olat/core/commons/services/vfs/manager/VFSRepositoryServiceImpl.java
@@ -266,6 +266,10 @@ public class VFSRepositoryServiceImpl implements VFSRepositoryService, GenericEv
 
 	@Override
 	public VFSMetadata getMetadataFor(File file) {
+		if(file == null || file.getParentFile() == null) {
+			return null;
+		}
+		
 		String relativePath = getRelativePath(file.getParentFile());
 		if(relativePath.equals("..")) {
 			return null;