diff --git a/pmd/etc/changelog.txt b/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
index 7b7db2bcf5..aa2ce8cede 100644
--- a/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
+++ b/pmd/etc/changelog.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ????? ??, 2013 - 5.0.5:
 
 Fixed bug  991: AvoidSynchronizedAtMethodLevel for static methods
+Fixed bug 1084: NPE at UselessStringValueOfRule.java:36
 Fixed bug 1104: IdempotentOperation false positive
 Fixed bug 1111: False positive: Useless parentheses
 Fixed bug 1114: CPD - Tokenizer not initialized with requested properties
diff --git a/pmd/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/UselessStringValueOfRule.java b/pmd/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/UselessStringValueOfRule.java
index debeb3e2a6..bf7c7ca8a0 100644
--- a/pmd/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/UselessStringValueOfRule.java
+++ b/pmd/src/main/java/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/UselessStringValueOfRule.java
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTPrimaryPrefix;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTReferenceType;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.ASTType;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.AbstractJavaRule;
+import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.symboltable.NameDeclaration;
 import net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.symboltable.VariableNameDeclaration;
 
 public class UselessStringValueOfRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
@@ -33,11 +34,14 @@ public class UselessStringValueOfRule extends AbstractJavaRule {
             if (args != null) {
                 ASTName arg = args.getFirstDescendantOfType(ASTName.class);
                 if (arg != null) {
-                    ASTType argType = arg.getNameDeclaration().getNode().jjtGetParent().jjtGetParent().getFirstDescendantOfType(ASTType.class);
-                    if (argType != null
-                            && argType.jjtGetChild(0) instanceof ASTReferenceType
-                            && ((ASTReferenceType)argType.jjtGetChild(0)).isArray()) {
-                        return super.visit(node, data);
+                    NameDeclaration declaration = arg.getNameDeclaration();
+                    if (declaration != null) {
+                        ASTType argType = declaration.getNode().jjtGetParent().jjtGetParent().getFirstDescendantOfType(ASTType.class);
+                        if (argType != null
+                                && argType.jjtGetChild(0) instanceof ASTReferenceType
+                                && ((ASTReferenceType)argType.jjtGetChild(0)).isArray()) {
+                            return super.visit(node, data);
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/pmd/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/UselessStringValueOf.xml b/pmd/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/UselessStringValueOf.xml
index 3c2db2d93e..d9ce973ddc 100644
--- a/pmd/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/UselessStringValueOf.xml
+++ b/pmd/src/test/resources/net/sourceforge/pmd/lang/java/rule/strings/xml/UselessStringValueOf.xml
@@ -91,6 +91,25 @@ class TestClass {
     String abc = "1" + String.valueOf(idFormat);
     System.out.println(abc); // Output 100000
  }
+}
+        ]]></code>
+    </test-code>
+    <test-code>
+        <description>#1084 NPE at UselessStringValueOfRule.java:36</description>
+        <expected-problems>0</expected-problems>
+        <code><![CDATA[
+import android.os.Build;
+
+public class Test {
+
+    public String test() {
+        print(String.valueOf(Build.TIME));
+        print(String.valueOf(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT));
+    }
+
+    private void print(String s) {
+        System.out.println(s);
+    }
 }
         ]]></code>
     </test-code>