diff --git a/src/main/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandler.java
index 3991431..b1a71ac 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandler.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 import org.swisspush.redisques.QueueStatsService;
 import org.swisspush.redisques.QueueStatsService.GetQueueStatsMentor;
 import org.swisspush.redisques.exception.RedisQuesExceptionFactory;
-import org.swisspush.redisques.util.DequeueStatistic;
 import org.swisspush.redisques.util.DequeueStatisticCollector;
 import org.swisspush.redisques.util.QueueStatisticsCollector;
 import org.swisspush.redisques.util.RedisquesAPI;
@@ -30,6 +29,7 @@
 import org.swisspush.redisques.util.Result;
 import org.swisspush.redisques.util.StatusCode;
 
+import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 import java.util.Date;
@@ -878,13 +878,17 @@ private void bulkDeleteQueues(RoutingContext ctx) {
         }
     }
 
-    private void respondWith(StatusCode statusCode, String responseMessage, HttpServerRequest request) {
+    private void respondWith(StatusCode statusCode, @Nullable String responseMessage, HttpServerRequest request) {
         final HttpServerResponse response = request.response();
         log.info("Responding with status code {} and message '{}' to request '{}'", statusCode, responseMessage, request.uri());
         response.setStatusCode(statusCode.getStatusCode());
         response.setStatusMessage(statusCode.getStatusMessage());
         response.putHeader(CONTENT_TYPE, TEXT_PLAIN);
-        response.end(responseMessage);
+        if(responseMessage != null) {
+            response.end(responseMessage);
+        } else {
+            response.end();
+        }
     }
 
     private void respondWith(StatusCode statusCode, HttpServerRequest request) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandlerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandlerTest.java
index 565e7f4..b3384e7 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandlerTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/swisspush/redisques/handler/RedisquesHttpRequestHandlerTest.java
@@ -709,6 +709,11 @@ public void addQueueItemInvalidBody(TestContext context) {
         assertKeyCount(context, getQueuesRedisKeyPrefix(), 0);
         context.assertEquals(0L, jedis.llen(getQueuesRedisKeyPrefix() + queueName));
 
+        // this body creates a NullpointerException because there is no header property
+        given().body(configurationValid).when().post("/queuing/queues/" + queueName + "/").then().assertThat().statusCode(400);
+        assertKeyCount(context, getQueuesRedisKeyPrefix(), 0);
+        context.assertEquals(0L, jedis.llen(getQueuesRedisKeyPrefix() + queueName));
+
         async.complete();
     }