diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/model/topo/UiDevice.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/model/topo/UiDevice.java
index e836233..f757f62 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/model/topo/UiDevice.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/model/topo/UiDevice.java
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@
      * @return the device type
      */
     public String type() {
-        return backingDevice().type().toString().toLowerCase();
+        Device device = backingDevice();
+        return device == null ? null : device.type().toString().toLowerCase();
     }
 }
diff --git a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/impl/topo/Topo2Jsonifier.java b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/impl/topo/Topo2Jsonifier.java
index 21e85c8..214553e 100644
--- a/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/impl/topo/Topo2Jsonifier.java
+++ b/web/gui/src/main/java/org/onosproject/ui/impl/topo/Topo2Jsonifier.java
@@ -453,11 +453,11 @@
                 .put("online", deviceService.isAvailable(device.id()))
                 .put("master", master(device.id()))
                 .put("layer", device.layer());
-
         Device d = device.backingDevice();
-
-        addProps(node, d);
-        addGeoGridLocation(node, d);
+        if (d != null) {
+            addProps(node, d);
+            addGeoGridLocation(node, d);
+        }
         addMetaUi(node, ridStr, device.idAsString());
 
         return node;