diff --git a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/MediaWikiImageView.java b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/MediaWikiImageView.java
index bd64f77cb..3e147f4a8 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/MediaWikiImageView.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/fr/free/nrw/commons/MediaWikiImageView.java
@@ -6,10 +6,13 @@ import android.support.annotation.Nullable;
 import android.support.graphics.drawable.VectorDrawableCompat;
 import android.text.TextUtils;
 import android.util.AttributeSet;
+import android.widget.Toast;
 
 import com.facebook.drawee.generic.GenericDraweeHierarchyBuilder;
 import com.facebook.drawee.view.SimpleDraweeView;
 
+import timber.log.Timber;
+
 public class MediaWikiImageView extends SimpleDraweeView {
     private ThumbnailFetchTask currentThumbnailTask;
 
@@ -81,7 +84,13 @@ public class MediaWikiImageView extends SimpleDraweeView {
                 result = media.getLocalUri().toString();
             } else {
                 // only cache meaningful thumbnails received from network.
-                CommonsApplication.getInstance().getThumbnailUrlCache().put(media.getFilename(), result);
+                try {
+                    CommonsApplication.getInstance().getThumbnailUrlCache().put(media.getFilename(), result);
+                } catch (NullPointerException npe) {
+                    Timber.e("error when adding pic to cache " + npe);
+
+                    Toast.makeText(getContext(), R.string.error_while_cache, Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
+                }
             }
             setImageUrl(result);
         }
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
index aad1ae7e7..d1867f3f8 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml
@@ -198,5 +198,6 @@ Tap this message (or hit back) to skip this step.</string>
   <string name="no_description_found">no description found</string>
   <string name="nearby_info_menu_commons_article">Commons Article</string>
   <string name="nearby_info_menu_wikidata_article">Wikidata item</string>
+    <string name="error_while_cache">Error while caching pictures</string>
 
 </resources>