diff --git a/src/main/java/com/tinkerpop/frames/annotations/AdjacencyAnnotationHandler.java b/src/main/java/com/tinkerpop/frames/annotations/AdjacencyAnnotationHandler.java
index 639cf07..bfcff9d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/tinkerpop/frames/annotations/AdjacencyAnnotationHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/tinkerpop/frames/annotations/AdjacencyAnnotationHandler.java
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ public Object processVertex(final Adjacency adjacency, final Method method, fina
                 returnValue = framedGraph.addVertex(null, returnType);
                 newVertex = ((VertexFrame) returnValue).asVertex();
             } else {
+                if (arguments[0] == null)
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("null passed to @Adjacency " + method.getName() + " labelled " + adjacency.label());
                 newVertex = ((VertexFrame) arguments[0]).asVertex();
             }
             addEdges(adjacency, framedGraph, vertex, newVertex);
@@ -101,4 +103,4 @@ private void removeEdges(final Direction direction, final String label, final Ve
             }
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}