diff --git a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/server/ServerLogger.java b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/server/ServerLogger.java
index 38b5b8541b9..ca20bba59f1 100644
--- a/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/server/ServerLogger.java
+++ b/rse/plugins/org.eclipse.dstore.core/src/org/eclipse/dstore/core/server/ServerLogger.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /********************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2002, 2011 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2002, 2012 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the terms
  * of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 which accompanies this distribution, and is
  * available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
  * Noriaki Takatsu (IBM)  - [341578] [dstore] ServerLogger is looped when IOError happens
  * David McKnight  (IBM)  - [351993] [dstore] not able to connect to server if .eclipse folder not available
  * David McKnight  (IBM)  - [366220] Log_To_File no longer default value for log_location in rsecomm.properties
+ * David McKnight  (IBM)  - [391774] [dstore] NPE if user-log directory cannot be created
  ********************************************************************************/
 
 package org.eclipse.dstore.core.server;
@@ -102,19 +103,26 @@ public class ServerLogger implements IServerLogger
 		if (_logFileStream == null) {
 			if (logToFile) {
 				try {
-			  		File _logFile = getLogFile("rsecomm"); //$NON-NLS-1$			  		
-			  		if (!_logFile.exists()){
-			  			_logFile.createNewFile();
+			  		File _logFile = getLogFile("rsecomm"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			  		if (_logFile != null){
+				  		if (!_logFile.exists()){
+				  			_logFile.createNewFile();
+				  		}
+				  		if (_logFile != null && _logFile.canWrite()){
+				  			_logFileStream = new PrintWriter(new FileOutputStream(_logFile));
+				  		}
+				  		else {
+				  			log_level = 0;
+							logToFile = false;
+							_logFileStream = new PrintWriter(System.out);
+				  		}
 			  		}
-			  		if (_logFile != null && _logFile.canWrite()){
-			  			_logFileStream = new PrintWriter(new FileOutputStream(_logFile));
-			  		}
-			  		else {
-			  			log_level = 0;
-						logToFile = false;
-						_logFileStream = new PrintWriter(System.out);
-			  		}
-
+			  		else { // no log file, default to stdout
+			  			System.out.println("No log file access " + logPathName + "rsecomm.log");		 //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
+				 		log_level = 0;
+				 		logToFile = false;
+				 		_logFileStream = new PrintWriter(System.out);	
+			  		}	
 				} catch (IOException e) {
 					System.out.println("Error opening log file " + logPathName + "rsecomm.log");		 //$NON-NLS-1$ //$NON-NLS-2$
 					log_level = 0;