diff --git a/core/spring-cloud-stream-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridgeTests.java b/core/spring-cloud-stream-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridgeTests.java
index ea7c2fadbe..06aad01924 100644
--- a/core/spring-cloud-stream-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridgeTests.java
+++ b/core/spring-cloud-stream-integration-tests/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridgeTests.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 import java.util.stream.IntStream;
 
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@
 import org.springframework.cloud.stream.messaging.DirectWithAttributesChannel;
 import org.springframework.context.ConfigurableApplicationContext;
 import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
+import org.springframework.core.codec.CodecException;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.AbstractMessageChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.channel.DirectChannel;
 import org.springframework.integration.config.GlobalChannelInterceptor;
@@ -203,6 +205,23 @@ void test_2249() {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// For more context on this test: https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-stream/issues/3078
+	@Test
+	void functionInvocationWrapperNullError() {
+		try (ConfigurableApplicationContext context = new SpringApplicationBuilder(
+			TestChannelBinderConfiguration.getCompleteConfiguration(
+				EmptyConfiguration.class)).web(WebApplicationType.NONE).run(
+			"--spring.cloud.stream.source=outputA",
+			"--spring.jmx.enabled=false")) {
+			StreamBridge streamBridge = context.getBean(StreamBridge.class);
+			var exception = Assertions.assertThrows(RuntimeException.class, () -> streamBridge.send("outputA-out-0",
+				new CodecException("invalidException")
+			));
+
+			assertThat(exception.getMessage()).isEqualTo("org.springframework.cloud.function.context.catalog.SimpleFunctionRegistry$FunctionInvocationWrapper returned null");
+		}
+	}
+
 	// For more context on this test: https://github.com/spring-cloud/spring-cloud-stream/issues/2815
 	@Test
 	void ensurePartitioningWorksWhenNativeEncodingEnabled() {
diff --git a/core/spring-cloud-stream/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridge.java b/core/spring-cloud-stream/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridge.java
index 42baa958d1..688fe49011 100644
--- a/core/spring-cloud-stream/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridge.java
+++ b/core/spring-cloud-stream/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/function/StreamBridge.java
@@ -228,9 +228,13 @@ public boolean send(String bindingName, @Nullable String binderName, Object data
 			lock.unlock();
 		}
 
-		if (resultMessage == null
-			&& ((Message) messageToSend).getPayload().getClass().getName().equals("org.springframework.kafka.support.KafkaNull")) {
-			resultMessage = messageToSend;
+		if (resultMessage == null) {
+			if (((Message) messageToSend).getPayload().getClass().getName().equals("org.springframework.kafka.support.KafkaNull")) {
+				resultMessage = messageToSend;
+			}
+			else {
+				throw new RuntimeException(functionToInvoke.getClass().getName() + " returned null");
+			}
 		}
 
 		resultMessage = (Message<?>) this.functionInvocationHelper.postProcessResult(resultMessage, null);