diff --git a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
index 82b359909..3a912c688 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
@@ -176,7 +176,9 @@ public class XwJNI {
         String[] result = null;
         if ( BuildConfig.HAVE_KNOWN_PLAYERS ) {
             result = kplr_getPlayers( getJNI().m_ptrGlobals );
-            Arrays.sort( result );
+            if ( null != result ) {
+                Arrays.sort( result );
+            }
         }
         return result;
     }