diff --git a/core/common/src/main/java/org/onosproject/codec/impl/DecodeCriterionCodecHelper.java b/core/common/src/main/java/org/onosproject/codec/impl/DecodeCriterionCodecHelper.java
index 2e01017..f82bd0d 100644
--- a/core/common/src/main/java/org/onosproject/codec/impl/DecodeCriterionCodecHelper.java
+++ b/core/common/src/main/java/org/onosproject/codec/impl/DecodeCriterionCodecHelper.java
@@ -107,12 +107,13 @@
     private class EthTypeDecoder implements CriterionDecoder {
         @Override
         public Criterion decodeCriterion(ObjectNode json) {
+            JsonNode ethTypeNode = nullIsIllegal(json.get(CriterionCodec.ETH_TYPE),
+                                              CriterionCodec.ETH_TYPE + MISSING_MEMBER_MESSAGE);
             int ethType;
-            if (json.get(CriterionCodec.ETH_TYPE).isInt()) {
-                ethType = nullIsIllegal(json.get(CriterionCodec.ETH_TYPE),
-                                        CriterionCodec.ETH_TYPE + MISSING_MEMBER_MESSAGE).asInt();
+            if (ethTypeNode.isInt()) {
+                ethType = ethTypeNode.asInt();
             } else {
-                ethType = Integer.decode(json.get(CriterionCodec.ETH_TYPE).textValue());
+                ethType = Integer.decode(ethTypeNode.textValue());
             }
             return Criteria.matchEthType(ethType);
         }