diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMapping.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMapping.java
index 8c45e07fc..bee82255b 100644
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMapping.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMapping.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2012-2016 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2012-2017 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@
  * {@link org.springframework.data.repository.Repository} is exported under that URL path segment. Also ensures the
  * {@link OpenEntityManagerInViewInterceptor} is registered in the application context. The OEMIVI is required for the
  * REST exporter to function properly.
- * 
+ *
  * @author Jon Brisbin
  * @author Oliver Gierke
  * @author Mark Paluch
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public class RepositoryRestHandlerMapping extends BasePathAwareHandlerMapping {
 	/**
 	 * Creates a new {@link RepositoryRestHandlerMapping} for the given {@link ResourceMappings} and
 	 * {@link RepositoryRestConfiguration}.
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param mappings must not be {@literal null}.
 	 * @param config must not be {@literal null}.
 	 */
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ public RepositoryRestHandlerMapping(ResourceMappings mappings, RepositoryRestCon
 		this.mappings = mappings;
 		this.configuration = config;
 		this.repositories = repositories;
-		this.corsConfigurationAccessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings, repositories,
-				NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE);
+		this.corsConfigurationAccessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings,
+				NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE, repositories);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ public void setEmbeddedValueResolver(StringValueResolver resolver) {
 
 		super.setEmbeddedValueResolver(resolver);
 
-		this.corsConfigurationAccessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings, repositories,
-				resolver == null ? NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE : resolver);
+		this.corsConfigurationAccessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings,
+				resolver == null ? NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE : resolver, repositories);
 	}
 
 	/*
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ protected CorsConfiguration getCorsConfiguration(Object handler, HttpServletRequ
 
 	/**
 	 * Returns the first segment of the given repository lookup path.
-	 * 
+	 *
 	 * @param repositoryLookupPath must not be {@literal null}.
 	 * @return
 	 */
@@ -266,14 +266,14 @@ public String resolveStringValue(String value) {
 	static class RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor {
 
 		private final @NonNull ResourceMappings mappings;
-		private final @NonNull Repositories repositories;
 		private final @NonNull StringValueResolver embeddedValueResolver;
+		private final Repositories repositories;
 
 		CorsConfiguration findCorsConfiguration(String lookupPath) {
 
 			ResourceMetadata resource = getResourceMetadata(getRepositoryBasePath(lookupPath));
 
-			return resource != null ? createConfiguration(
+			return resource != null && repositories != null ? createConfiguration(
 					repositories.getRepositoryInformationFor(resource.getDomainType()).getRepositoryInterface()) : null;
 		}
 
diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessorUnitTests.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessorUnitTests.java
index d0e66e28f..92764ee5f 100644
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessorUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessorUnitTests.java
@@ -15,8 +15,10 @@
  */
 package org.springframework.data.rest.webmvc;
 
+import static java.util.Collections.*;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.*;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.*;
 
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -24,7 +26,9 @@
 import org.mockito.Mock;
 import org.mockito.runners.MockitoJUnitRunner;
 import org.springframework.data.repository.support.Repositories;
+import org.springframework.data.rest.core.Path;
 import org.springframework.data.rest.core.mapping.ResourceMappings;
+import org.springframework.data.rest.core.mapping.ResourceMetadata;
 import org.springframework.data.rest.webmvc.RepositoryRestHandlerMapping.NoOpStringValueResolver;
 import org.springframework.data.rest.webmvc.RepositoryRestHandlerMapping.RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.CrossOrigin;
@@ -49,7 +53,7 @@ public class RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessorUnitTests {
 
 	@Before
 	public void before() throws Exception {
-		accessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings, repositories, NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE);
+		accessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings, NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE, repositories);
 	}
 
 	@Test // DATAREST-573
@@ -82,6 +86,21 @@ public void createConfigurationShouldConstructFullCorsConfiguration() {
 		assertThat(configuration.getMaxAge(), is(1234L));
 	}
 
+	@Test // DATAREST-994
+	public void returnsNullCorsConfigurationWithNullRepositories() {
+
+		accessor = new RepositoryCorsConfigurationAccessor(mappings, NoOpStringValueResolver.INSTANCE, null);
+
+		ResourceMetadata resourceMetadata = mock(ResourceMetadata.class);
+		when(resourceMetadata.getPath()).thenReturn(new Path("/people"));
+		when(resourceMetadata.isExported()).thenReturn(true);
+
+		when(mappings.exportsTopLevelResourceFor("/people")).thenReturn(true);
+		when(mappings.iterator()).thenReturn(singletonList(resourceMetadata).iterator());
+
+		assertThat(accessor.findCorsConfiguration("/people"), is(nullValue()));
+	}
+
 	interface PlainRepository {}
 
 	@CrossOrigin
diff --git a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMappingUnitTests.java b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMappingUnitTests.java
index e49f25924..cd43863b0 100644
--- a/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMappingUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-rest-webmvc/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/rest/webmvc/RepositoryRestHandlerMappingUnitTests.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 
 /**
  * Unit tests for {@link RepositoryRestHandlerMapping}.
- * 
+ *
  * @author Oliver Gierke
  * @author Greg Turnquist
  */
@@ -212,4 +212,9 @@ public void rejectsUnexpandedUriTemplateWithNotFound() throws Exception {
 
 		assertThat(handlerMapping.getHandler(mockRequest), is(nullValue()));
 	}
+
+	@Test // DATAREST-994
+	public void twoArgumentConstructorDoesNotThrowException() {
+		new RepositoryRestHandlerMapping(mappings, configuration);
+	}
 }