diff --git a/libvlc/src/org/videolan/libvlc/util/VLCUtil.java b/libvlc/src/org/videolan/libvlc/util/VLCUtil.java
index a777fd0f3..031e64635 100644
--- a/libvlc/src/org/videolan/libvlc/util/VLCUtil.java
+++ b/libvlc/src/org/videolan/libvlc/util/VLCUtil.java
@@ -25,12 +25,9 @@ import android.content.Context;
 import android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo;
 import android.net.Uri;
 import android.os.Build;
-import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
 import android.util.Log;
 
-import org.videolan.libvlc.interfaces.ILibVLC;
-import org.videolan.libvlc.interfaces.IMedia;
-import org.videolan.libvlc.Media;
+import androidx.annotation.NonNull;
 
 import java.io.BufferedReader;
 import java.io.Closeable;
@@ -508,7 +505,8 @@ public class VLCUtil {
      * Therefore, decode the characters authorized by Android Uri when creating an Uri from VLC.
      */
     public static Uri UriFromMrl(String mrl) {
-        final char array[] = mrl.toCharArray();
+        if (mrl == null) return null;
+        final char[] array = mrl.toCharArray();
         final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(array.length*2);
         for (int i = 0; i < array.length; ++i) {
             final char c = array[i];