diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/build/core/scannerconfig/ScannerConfigBuilder.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/build/core/scannerconfig/ScannerConfigBuilder.java
index 78099dbd610..4def2747bbd 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/build/core/scannerconfig/ScannerConfigBuilder.java
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/build/core/scannerconfig/ScannerConfigBuilder.java
@@ -171,8 +171,13 @@ public class ScannerConfigBuilder extends ACBuilder {
 		ICConfigurationDescription cfgDes = ManagedBuildManager.getDescriptionForConfiguration(cfg);
 		IEnvironmentVariableManager mngr = CCorePlugin.getDefault().getBuildEnvironmentManager();
 		IEnvironmentVariable[] vars = mngr.getVariables(cfgDes, true);
-		for(int i = 0; i < vars.length; i++){
-			envProps.setProperty(vars[i].getName(), vars[i].getValue());
+
+		for(int i = 0; i < vars.length; i++) {
+			if (vars[i] != null
+			 && vars[i].getName() != null) {
+				String value = vars[i].getValue();
+				envProps.setProperty(vars[i].getName(), value == null ? "" : value);
+			}
 		}
 
 		return envProps;
diff --git a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/envvar/IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/envvar/IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
index 2ad85459956..a6c5760f813 100644
--- a/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/envvar/IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
+++ b/build/org.eclipse.cdt.managedbuilder.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/managedbuilder/envvar/IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public interface IConfigurationEnvironmentVariableSupplier {
 	 *    and the provider in turn calls that supplier again. Also the supplier should not know anything
 	 *    about the environment variables defined for the higher levels.
 	 * @return The array of IBuildEnvironmentVariable that represents the environment variables.
-	 *    If the array contains any {@code null} it will be ignored.
+	 *    The array may contain {@code null} values.
 	 */
 	IBuildEnvironmentVariable[] getVariables(IConfiguration configuration, IEnvironmentVariableProvider provider);
 }
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/core/envvar/IEnvironmentVariableManager.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/core/envvar/IEnvironmentVariableManager.java
index 70f0d7197a0..7daabcaa068 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/core/envvar/IEnvironmentVariableManager.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/core/envvar/IEnvironmentVariableManager.java
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ public interface IEnvironmentVariableManager{
 	 * 
 	 * 
 	 * @return the reference to the IBuildEnvironmentVariable interface representing 
-	 * the variable of a given name
+	 * the variable of a given name or null
 	 * @param name environment variable name
 	 * if environment variable names are case insensitive in the current OS, 
 	 * the environment variable provider will query the getVariable method of suppliers always
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ public interface IEnvironmentVariableManager{
 	 * the environment variable provider will remove the duplicates of the variables if their names
 	 * differ only by case
 	 *
-	 * @return the array of IBuildEnvironmentVariable that represents the environment variables 
+	 * @return the array of IBuildEnvironmentVariable that represents the environment variables (the
+	 *   array may contain null values)
 	 */
 	public IEnvironmentVariable[] getVariables(ICConfigurationDescription cfg, boolean resolveMacros);