NullPointerException from method reference on null object

FULL PRODUCT VERSION :

java version "1.8.0_45"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_45-b15)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.45-b02, mixed mode)


A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :

The following simple example code leads to a NullPointerException:

import java.util.function.Supplier;

public class MethodReferenceNpeTest {

public static void main(String[] args) {
Object object = createObject();
Supplier<String> supplier = object::toString;
if (object != null) {
System.out.println(supplier.get());
}
}

private static Object createObject() {
return null;
}

}

RESULT :

After compiling it with javac and running it, following NPE occurs:

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at de.fhg.iwes.ui.vpp.MethodReferenceNpeTest.main(MethodReferenceNpeTest.java:9)

-- Compiling the same code with the eclipse compiler doesn't lead to a NPE