diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/AbstractAnnotationHover.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/AbstractAnnotationHover.java
index ef48b63f324..a1f4359f37f 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/AbstractAnnotationHover.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/AbstractAnnotationHover.java
@@ -320,7 +320,14 @@ public class AbstractAnnotationHover extends AbstractCEditorTextHover {
 			StyledText text = new StyledText(composite, SWT.MULTI | SWT.WRAP | SWT.READ_ONLY);
 			GridData data = new GridData(SWT.FILL, SWT.FILL, true, true);
 			text.setLayoutData(data);
-			text.setText(annotation.getText());
+			String annotationText = annotation.getText();
+			if (annotationText == null) {
+				// This shouldn't happen, but it really does sometimes. See Bug 447622
+				// Therefore we have to provide a sensible fallback
+				text.setText(CHoverMessages.AbstractAnnotationHover_annotation_text_null_message);
+			} else {
+				text.setText(annotationText);
+			}
 		}
 
 		private void createCompletionProposalsControl(Composite parent, ICompletionProposal[] proposals) {
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.java
index 989ea651ee6..c0a0b147e5b 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.eclipse.osgi.util.NLS;
 public final class CHoverMessages extends NLS {
 
 	public static String AbstractAnnotationHover_action_configureAnnotationPreferences;
+	public static String AbstractAnnotationHover_annotation_text_null_message;
 	public static String AbstractAnnotationHover_message_singleQuickFix;
 	public static String AbstractAnnotationHover_message_multipleQuickFix;
 
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.properties b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.properties
index 84d904d327b..96c3ef60f9b 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.properties
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/text/c/hover/CHoverMessages.properties
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #     Sergey Prigogin (Google)
 ###############################################################################
 AbstractAnnotationHover_action_configureAnnotationPreferences= Configure Annotation Preferences
+AbstractAnnotationHover_annotation_text_null_message=Additional information is not available for this annotation.
 AbstractAnnotationHover_message_singleQuickFix= 1 quick fix available:
 AbstractAnnotationHover_message_multipleQuickFix= {0} quick fixes available: