diff --git a/src/main/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/JSONPath.java b/src/main/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/JSONPath.java
index a8cc592d93..a7401d6225 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/JSONPath.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/JSONPath.java
@@ -3853,6 +3853,9 @@ protected Object getPropertyValue(Object currentObject, String propertyName, lon
                 // skip
             }
         }
+        if (currentObject == null) {
+            return null;
+        }
 
         if (currentObject instanceof Map) {
             Map map = (Map) currentObject;
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/jsonpath/issue3962/TestIssue3962.java b/src/test/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/jsonpath/issue3962/TestIssue3962.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b235c13469
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/alibaba/fastjson/jsonpath/issue3962/TestIssue3962.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package com.alibaba.fastjson.jsonpath.issue3962;
+
+import com.alibaba.fastjson.JSONPath;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class TestIssue3962 {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testIssue3962() {
+        Object val = JSONPath.eval("{\"a\": {\"b\": \"\"}}", "$.a.b.c");
+        Assert.assertNull(val);
+    }
+
+}