diff --git a/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/preprocessor/PreProcessorUtils.java b/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/preprocessor/PreProcessorUtils.java
index 2803562e2b..6c84900460 100644
--- a/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/preprocessor/PreProcessorUtils.java
+++ b/repository/src/main/java/org/apache/atlas/repository/store/graph/v2/preprocessor/PreProcessorUtils.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public static String updateQueryResourceAttributes(AtlasTypeRegistry typeRegistr
         entity.setAttribute(QUALIFIED_NAME, qualifiedName);
 
         //Check if parent attribute is changed
-        if (parentAttribute.getAttributeType().areEqualValues(currentParentObjectId, newParentObjectId, context.getGuidAssignments())) {
+        if (currentParentObjectId == null || parentAttribute.getAttributeType().areEqualValues(currentParentObjectId, newParentObjectId, context.getGuidAssignments())) {
             return null;
         }