diff --git a/xmlbeans/src/main/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoder.java b/xmlbeans/src/main/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoder.java
index d0e871e31..1ff2773a0 100644
--- a/xmlbeans/src/main/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoder.java
+++ b/xmlbeans/src/main/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoder.java
@@ -325,6 +325,9 @@ private OwsOperationsMetadata parseOperationMetadata(OperationsMetadata operatio
     }
 
     private OwsServiceIdentification parseServiceIdentification(ServiceIdentification serviceIdentification) {
+        if (serviceIdentification == null) {
+            return null;
+        }
         OwsCode serviceType = parseCode(serviceIdentification.getServiceType());
         Set<String> serviceTypeVersion = Optional.ofNullable(serviceIdentification.getServiceTypeVersionArray())
                 .map(Arrays::stream).orElseGet(Stream::empty).collect(toSet());
diff --git a/xmlbeans/src/test/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoderTest.java b/xmlbeans/src/test/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoderTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad8562fcc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xmlbeans/src/test/java/org/n52/svalbard/decode/AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoderTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016-2017 52°North Initiative for Geospatial Open Source
+ * Software GmbH
+ *
+ * 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.n52.svalbard.decode;
+
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import org.hamcrest.core.Is;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.n52.shetland.ogc.ows.OwsCapabilities;
+import org.n52.svalbard.decode.exception.DecodingException;
+
+import net.opengis.ows.x11.CapabilitiesBaseType;
+
+public class AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoderTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void shouldNotThrowNullPointerExceptionWhenServiceIdentificationIsMissing() throws DecodingException {
+        AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoder<CapabilitiesBaseType, OwsCapabilities> decoder = new TestSeam();
+        CapabilitiesBaseType cbt = CapabilitiesBaseType.Factory.newInstance();
+        cbt.setVersion("2.0.0");
+        cbt.setUpdateSequence("nothing-to-see-here");
+        Assert.assertThat(decoder.parseCapabilitiesBaseType("SOS", cbt).getServiceIdentification().isPresent(), Is.is(false));
+    }
+
+    private class TestSeam extends AbstractCapabilitiesBaseTypeDecoder<CapabilitiesBaseType, OwsCapabilities> {
+
+        @Override
+        public OwsCapabilities decode(CapabilitiesBaseType objectToDecode) throws DecodingException {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Set<DecoderKey> getKeys() {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}