Index: trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/mapmode/DrawAction.java
===================================================================
--- trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/mapmode/DrawAction.java	(revision 13881)
+++ trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/actions/mapmode/DrawAction.java	(revision 13882)
@@ -1182,5 +1182,6 @@
 
         // This happens when nothing is selected, but we still want to highlight the "target node"
-        if (mouseOnExistingNode == null && mousePos != null && getLayerManager().getEditDataSet().selectionEmpty()) {
+        DataSet ds = getLayerManager().getEditDataSet();
+        if (mouseOnExistingNode == null && mousePos != null && ds != null && ds.selectionEmpty()) {
             mouseOnExistingNode = mapView.getNearestNode(mousePos, OsmPrimitive::isSelectable);
         }