diff -r 605878cd4009 -r ca6b58b8ffc5 src/jdk.jfr/share/classes/jdk/jfr/internal/EventInstrumentation.java
--- a/src/jdk.jfr/share/classes/jdk/jfr/internal/EventInstrumentation.java	Tue Nov 27 11:07:44 2018 -0500
+++ b/src/jdk.jfr/share/classes/jdk/jfr/internal/EventInstrumentation.java	Tue Nov 27 18:14:27 2018 +0100
@@ -435,6 +435,10 @@
         // MyEvent#shouldCommit()
         updateMethod(METHOD_EVENT_SHOULD_COMMIT, methodVisitor -> {
             Label fail = new Label();
+            if (guardHandlerReference) {
+                getEventHandler(methodVisitor);
+                methodVisitor.visitJumpInsn(Opcodes.IFNULL, fail);
+            }
             // if (!eventHandler.shouldCommit(duration) goto fail;
             getEventHandler(methodVisitor);
             methodVisitor.visitVarInsn(Opcodes.ALOAD, 0);