diff --git a/app/core/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/utils/text/TextDecodingHelper.java b/app/core/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/utils/text/TextDecodingHelper.java
index 8c7e4cfbe..00c3db099 100644
--- a/app/core/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/utils/text/TextDecodingHelper.java
+++ b/app/core/src/main/java/stirling/software/SPDF/utils/text/TextDecodingHelper.java
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ public class TextDecodingHelper {
                 }
             } catch (Exception ignored) {
             }
-            if (!isPrintable(ch)) {
+            if (ch == null || !isPrintable(ch)) {
                 // Handle problematic character codes specifically
                 ch = "�";
             }