bumptech/glide · error · IllegalArgumentException

You cannot start a load on a null Context

Error message

You cannot start a load on a null Context

What it means

IllegalArgumentException thrown by RequestManagerRetriever.get(Context) when the supplied Context is null. Glide requires a non-null Context (Application, Activity, FragmentActivity, or ContextWrapper) to scope the RequestManager lifecycle.

Source

Thrown at library/src/main/java/com/bumptech/glide/manager/RequestManagerRetriever.java:90

          // TODO(b/27524013): Factor out this Glide.get() call.
          Glide glide = Glide.get(context.getApplicationContext());
          applicationManager =
              factory.build(
                  glide,
                  new ApplicationLifecycle(),
                  new EmptyRequestManagerTreeNode(),
                  context.getApplicationContext());
        }
      }
    }

    return applicationManager;
  }

  @NonNull
  public RequestManager get(@NonNull Context context) {
    if (context == null) {
      throw new IllegalArgumentException("You cannot start a load on a null Context");
    } else if (Util.isOnMainThread() && !(context instanceof Application)) {
      if (context instanceof FragmentActivity) {
        return get((FragmentActivity) context);
      } else if (context instanceof ContextWrapper
          // Only unwrap a ContextWrapper if the baseContext has a non-null application context.
          // Context#createPackageContext may return a Context without an Application instance,
          // in which case a ContextWrapper may be used to attach one.
          && ((ContextWrapper) context).getBaseContext().getApplicationContext() != null) {
        return get(((ContextWrapper) context).getBaseContext());
      }
    }

    return getApplicationManager(context);
  }

  @NonNull
  public RequestManager get(@NonNull FragmentActivity activity) {
    if (Util.isOnBackgroundThread()) {

View on GitHub (pinned to eb14a895d8)

Solutions

1. Use Glide.with(view) or Glide.with(applicationContext) where Context may be null.
2. Null-check the Context before calling Glide.with().
3. In fragments, prefer Glide.with(this) (the fragment) over Glide.with(getActivity()).

Example fix

// before
Glide.with(getActivity()).load(url).into(img); // getActivity() can be null
// after
Context ctx = getContext();
if (ctx != null) {
  Glide.with(ctx).load(url).into(img);
}

// Null-check Context (or use View) before calling Glide.with().
Context ctx = getView() != null ? getView().getContext() : null;
if (ctx != null) {
  Glide.with(ctx).load(url).into(img);
}

// Kotlin guard
val ctx: Context? = view?.context
if (ctx != null) Glide.with(ctx).load(url).into(img)

When it happens

Trigger: Calling Glide.with(null), or Glide.with((Context) someField) where the field is null (e.g. in a detached fragment whose getContext() is null).

Common situations: Calling Glide.with() from a constructor or field that has not been initialized. Using Glide.with(getActivity()) after the activity has been destroyed and field nulled. Passing a nullable Context from an interop layer without null-checking.

Related errors

• You cannot start a load for a destroyed activity
• Cannot register already registered manager
• Cannot unregister not yet registered manager
• BufferedInputStream is closed
• Stream is closed

AI-assisted analysis of bumptech/glide@eb14a895d8 (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/08bfc57a7b269b0e. Report an issue: GitHub.