diff --git a/writerfilter/source/dmapper/DomainMapper_Impl.cxx b/writerfilter/source/dmapper/DomainMapper_Impl.cxx
index b3942b4654e9..83ce570dcbab 100644
--- a/writerfilter/source/dmapper/DomainMapper_Impl.cxx
+++ b/writerfilter/source/dmapper/DomainMapper_Impl.cxx
@@ -6800,7 +6800,10 @@ void DomainMapper_Impl::handleIndex
     {
         sValue = sValue.replaceAll("\"", "");
         uno::Reference<text::XTextColumns> xTextColumns;
-        xTOC->getPropertyValue(getPropertyName( PROP_TEXT_COLUMNS )) >>= xTextColumns;
+        if (xTOC.is())
+        {
+            xTOC->getPropertyValue(getPropertyName( PROP_TEXT_COLUMNS )) >>= xTextColumns;
+        }
         if (xTextColumns.is())
         {
             xTextColumns->setColumnCount( sValue.toInt32() );