diff --git a/src/main/java/net/minecraftforge/common/TierSortingRegistry.java b/src/main/java/net/minecraftforge/common/TierSortingRegistry.java
index 28b679189b..89356bc894 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/minecraftforge/common/TierSortingRegistry.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/minecraftforge/common/TierSortingRegistry.java
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ public class TierSortingRegistry {
      * @param before List of tiers to place this tier before (the tiers in the list will be considered better tiers)
      */
     public static synchronized Tier registerTier(Tier tier, ResourceLocation name, List<Object> after, List<Object> before) {
+        if (tier == null)
+            throw new NullPointerException("Registering a new Tier requires a nonnull tier! ResourceLocation name: " + name);
         if (tiers.containsKey(name))
             throw new IllegalStateException("Duplicate tier name " + name);