diff --git a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/misc/GithubApi.kt b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/misc/GithubApi.kt
index 7041d4b3..4864b3d5 100644
--- a/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/misc/GithubApi.kt
+++ b/modules/kobalt-plugin-api/src/main/kotlin/com/beust/kobalt/misc/GithubApi.kt
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public class GithubApi @Inject constructor(val executors: KobaltExecutors,
 
     private fun parseRetrofitError(e: Throwable) : RetrofitErrorsResponse {
         val re = e as RetrofitError
-        val json = String((re.response.body as TypedByteArray).bytes)
+        val json = String((re.response?.body as TypedByteArray).bytes)
         return Gson().fromJson(json, RetrofitErrorsResponse::class.java)
     }