FULL PRODUCT VERSION :
java version "1.7.0-ea"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.7.0-ea-b33)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 14.0.b01, mixed mode)

ADDITIONAL OS VERSION INFORMATION :
Seen on Gentoo 64-bit and Fedora 8 32-bit.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
Under the GTK L&F, attempting to set a List.focusSelectedCellHightlightBorder on a component other than a JLabel results in a NullPointerException.

I am using a JCheckBox as a ListCellRenderer and using the following code throws a NullPointerException:

Border border = UIManager.getBorder("List.focusSelectedCellHighlightBorder");
if(null != border)
   setBorder(border);

The stack trace indicates the exception occurring at javax.swing.JComponent.setBorder(JComponent.java:1783) and when I dig into this further I can see that it is caused by the call to getBorderInsets(this) which returns null from GTKPainter$ListTableFocusBorder unless the component is an instance of JLabel.

STEPS TO FOLLOW TO REPRODUCE THE PROBLEM :
Create a JCheckBox that implements ListCellRenderer and set its border to UIManager.getBorder("List.focusSelectedCellHighlightBorder") under the GTK L&F.

EXPECTED VERSUS ACTUAL BEHAVIOR :
EXPECTED -
setBorder() should return normally.
ACTUAL -
NullPointerException

ERROR MESSAGES/STACK TRACES THAT OCCUR :
java.lang.NullPointerException
    at javax.swing.JComponent.setBorder(JComponent.java:1783)
    at MyCellRenderer.getListCellRendererComponent()

REPRODUCIBILITY :
This bug can be reproduced always.

---------- BEGIN SOURCE ----------
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import java.awt.Container;

import javax.swing.JCheckBox;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.SwingUtilities;
import javax.swing.UIManager;
import javax.swing.UnsupportedLookAndFeelException;
import javax.swing.border.Border;


public class Test {

private static class CellRenderer extends JCheckBox {
public CellRenderer() {
super();
setText("Test");
Border border = UIManager.getBorder("List.focusSelectedCellHighlightBorder");
if(null != border)
setBorder(border);
}
}

public static void main(String[] args) throws ClassNotFoundException, InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException, UnsupportedLookAndFeelException {
UIManager.setLookAndFeel("com.sun.java.swing.plaf.gtk.GTKLookAndFeel");
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {

@Override
public void run() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
Container cp = frame.getContentPane();
cp.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
cp.add(new CellRenderer());

frame.pack();
frame.setVisible(true);
}

});
}

}

---------- END SOURCE ----------

CUSTOMER SUBMITTED WORKAROUND :
Wrap call to setBorder in try... catch and set an empty border in the catch block.