diff --git a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/CouplingBetweenObjectsRule.java b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/CouplingBetweenObjectsRule.java
index 59227777e6..dfea612724 100644
--- a/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/CouplingBetweenObjectsRule.java
+++ b/pmd-java/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/design/CouplingBetweenObjectsRule.java
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public class CouplingBetweenObjectsRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
      * @param typeNode The variable type.
      */
     private void checkVariableType(ASTType typeNode) {
-        if (inInterface) {
+        if (inInterface || typeNode == null) {
             return;
         }
         // if the field is of any type other than the class type