Name node throws NPE when setPermission is called on a path that does not exist

16/02/23 16:37:03.888 DEBUG security.UserGroupInformation:FSPermissionChecker.ja
va:164 - ACCESS CHECK: org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSPermissionChecker@299b19af, doCheckOwner=true, ancestorAccess=null, parentAccess=null, access=null, subAccess=null, ignoreEmptyDir=false
16/02/23 16:37:03.889 DEBUG ipc.Server:ProtobufRpcEngine.java:631 - Served: setPermission queueTime= 3 procesingTime= 3 exception= NullPointerException
16/02/23 16:37:03.890 WARN ipc.Server:Server.java:2068 - IPC Server handler 2 on 9000, call org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.ClientProtocol.setPermission from 127.0.0.1:36190 Call#21 Retry#0
java.lang.NullPointerException
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSPermissionChecker.checkOwner(FSPermissionChecker.java:247)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSPermissionChecker.checkPermission(FSPermissionChecker.java:227)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSPermissionChecker.checkPermission(FSPermissionChecker.java:190)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSDirectory.checkPermission(FSDirectory.java:1720)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSDirectory.checkPermission(FSDirectory.java:1704)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSDirectory.checkOwner(FSDirectory.java:1673)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSDirAttrOp.setPermission(FSDirAttrOp.java:61)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.FSNamesystem.setPermission(FSNamesystem.java:1653)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.server.namenode.NameNodeRpcServer.setPermission(NameNodeRpcServer.java:695)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocolPB.ClientNamenodeProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.setPermission(ClientNamenodeProtocolServerSideTranslatorPB.java:453)
        at org.apache.hadoop.hdfs.protocol.proto.ClientNamenodeProtocolProtos$ClientNamenodeProtocol$2.callBlockingMethod(ClientNamenodeProtocolProtos.java)
        at org.apache.hadoop.ipc.ProtobufRpcEngine$Server$ProtoBufRpcInvoker.call(ProtobufRpcEngine.java:616)
        at org.apache.hadoop.ipc.RPC$Server.call(RPC.java:969)
        at org.apache.hadoop.ipc.Server$Handler$1.run(Server.java:2049)
        at org.apache.hadoop.ipc.Server$Handler$1.run(Server.java:2045)
        at java.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(Native Method)
        at javax.security.auth.Subject.doAs(Subject.java:415)
        at org.apache.hadoop.security.UserGroupInformation.doAs(UserGroupInformation.java:1657)
        at org.apache.hadoop.ipc.Server$Handler.run(Server.java:2043)