diff --git a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/IOBuffer.java b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/IOBuffer.java
index e5e175b9e..1597d0cd3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/IOBuffer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/microsoft/sqlserver/jdbc/IOBuffer.java
@@ -6912,6 +6912,15 @@ final boolean readPacket() throws SQLServerException {
 
             // if messageType is RPC or QUERY, then increment Counter's state
             if (tdsChannel.getWriter().checkIfTdsMessageTypeIsBatchOrRPC() && null != command) {
+                if (logger.isLoggable(Level.FINER)) {
+                    logger.warning(toString() + ": increasing state of counter for TDS Command: " + command.toString());
+                }
+
+                if (null == command.getCounter()) {
+                    MessageFormat form = new MessageFormat(SQLServerException.getErrString("R_NullValue"));
+                    Object[] msgArgs1 = {"TDS command counter"};
+                    throw new SQLServerException(form.format(msgArgs1), null);
+                }
                 command.getCounter().increaseCounter(packetLength);
             }