Index: C:/Documents and Settings/mb011000/IBM/rationalsdp6.0/workspace/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/resolver/DefaultArtifactResolver.java
===================================================================
--- C:/Documents and Settings/mb011000/IBM/rationalsdp6.0/workspace/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/resolver/DefaultArtifactResolver.java	(revision 407272)
+++ C:/Documents and Settings/mb011000/IBM/rationalsdp6.0/workspace/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/resolver/DefaultArtifactResolver.java	(working copy)
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@
             {
                 File systemFile = artifact.getFile();
 
-                if ( !systemFile.exists() )
+                if ( systemFile == null || !systemFile.exists() )
                 {
                     throw new ArtifactNotFoundException(
                         "System artifact: " + artifact + " not found in path: " + systemFile, artifact );