diff --git a/src/main/java/reposense/authorship/analyzer/AuthorshipAnalyzer.java b/src/main/java/reposense/authorship/analyzer/AuthorshipAnalyzer.java
index 0df2731268..5284ef95ba 100644
--- a/src/main/java/reposense/authorship/analyzer/AuthorshipAnalyzer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/reposense/authorship/analyzer/AuthorshipAnalyzer.java
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ private static CandidateLine getDeletedLineWithHighestSimilarity(RepoConfigurati
 
                 CandidateLine candidateLine = getDeletedLineWithHighestSimilarityInDiff(
                         fileDiffResult, lineContent, parentCommit, preImageFilePath);
+                if (candidateLine == null) {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 if (highestSimilarityLine == null
                         || candidateLine.getSimilarityScore() > highestSimilarityLine.getSimilarityScore()) {
                     highestSimilarityLine = candidateLine;