diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/ExtensionComponent.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/ExtensionComponent.java
index 8b0af778d4..8c48632c2c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/ExtensionComponent.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/ExtensionComponent.java
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public class ExtensionComponent<T> implements Comparable<ExtensionComponent<T>>
 
         // make the order bit more deterministic among extensions of the same ordinal
         if (this.instance instanceof Descriptor) {
-            return ((Descriptor)this.instance).getDisplayName().compareTo(((Descriptor)that.instance).getDisplayName());
+            return Util.fixNull(((Descriptor)this.instance).getDisplayName()).compareTo(Util.fixNull(((Descriptor)that.instance).getDisplayName()));
         } else {
             return this.instance.getClass().getName().compareTo(that.instance.getClass().getName());
         }