diff --git a/plugins/org.etsi.mts.tdl.common/src/org/etsi/mts/tdl/scoping/TDLScopeProvider.java b/plugins/org.etsi.mts.tdl.common/src/org/etsi/mts/tdl/scoping/TDLScopeProvider.java
index 5d444f4de8922b55a2cfc131ef93e3f7d25e6a91..026dfe27cf0c2d4cb90388a27ef3f751f4aeabf2 100644
--- a/plugins/org.etsi.mts.tdl.common/src/org/etsi/mts/tdl/scoping/TDLScopeProvider.java
+++ b/plugins/org.etsi.mts.tdl.common/src/org/etsi/mts/tdl/scoping/TDLScopeProvider.java
@@ -200,8 +200,8 @@ public class TDLScopeProvider extends AbstractDeclarativeScopeProvider {
 						EList<Target> targets = ((Message) context).getTarget();
 						if (!targets.isEmpty()) {
 							ICompositeNode oppositeNode = NodeModelUtils.findActualNodeFor(targets.get(0));
-							String text = NodeModelUtils.getTokenText(oppositeNode);
 							if (oppositeNode != null) {
+								String text = NodeModelUtils.getTokenText(oppositeNode);
 								String targetGateName = text
 										.replaceAll("(the|a|an)\\s+", "")
 										.replaceAll("(?s)where\\s+it\\s+is.+", "")