diff --git a/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/discovery/stores/zk/ZooKeeperPermanentStore.java b/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/discovery/stores/zk/ZooKeeperPermanentStore.java
index 116f61e2c1..26f7dce3a2 100644
--- a/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/discovery/stores/zk/ZooKeeperPermanentStore.java
+++ b/d2/src/main/java/com/linkedin/d2/discovery/stores/zk/ZooKeeperPermanentStore.java
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ public void processResult(int rc, String path, Object ctx, byte[] bytes, Stat st
           }
           catch (PropertySerializationException e)
           {
-            _log.error("Failed to deserialize property " + propertyName + ", value in bytes:" + new String(bytes), e);
+            _log.error("Failed to deserialize property " + propertyName + ", value in bytes:" + (bytes == null ? "null" : new String(bytes)), e);
             propertyValue = null;
           }
           reportDualReadData(propertyName, propertyValue);