diff --git a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/FifoRpcScheduler.java b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/FifoRpcScheduler.java
index b51154fc24eb..842366d625f2 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/FifoRpcScheduler.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/ipc/FifoRpcScheduler.java
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ public void start() {
 
   @Override
   public void stop() {
-    this.executor.shutdown();
+    if (this.executor != null) {
+      this.executor.shutdown();
+    }
   }
 
   private static class FifoCallRunner implements Runnable {