Index: trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/NavigatableComponent.java
===================================================================
--- trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/NavigatableComponent.java	(revision 6095)
+++ trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/NavigatableComponent.java	(revision 6096)
@@ -1180,6 +1180,11 @@
      */
     public final OsmPrimitive getNearestNodeOrWay(Point p, Predicate<OsmPrimitive> predicate, boolean use_selected) {
-        Collection<OsmPrimitive> sel =
-                use_selected ? getCurrentDataSet().getSelected() : null;
+        Collection<OsmPrimitive> sel;
+        DataSet ds = getCurrentDataSet();
+        if (use_selected && ds!=null) {
+            sel = ds.getSelected();
+        } else {
+            sel = null;
+        }
         OsmPrimitive osm = getNearestNode(p, predicate, use_selected, sel);