diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/testing/GCloudEmulatorRunner.java b/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/testing/GCloudEmulatorRunner.java
index 5a2a76f9a46a..ce4e882af852 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/testing/GCloudEmulatorRunner.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/api/gax/testing/GCloudEmulatorRunner.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ private boolean isGCloudInstalled() {
   private boolean isEmulatorUpdateToDate()
       throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     String currentVersion = installedEmulatorVersion(versionPrefix);
-    return currentVersion.compareTo(minVersion) >= 0;
+    return currentVersion != null && currentVersion.compareTo(minVersion) >= 0;
   }
 
   private String installedEmulatorVersion(String versionPrefix)