diff --git a/spine-android/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/spine-android/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index a3d4d9156..075d49b1f 100644
--- a/spine-android/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/spine-android/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [versions]
-agp = "8.3.1"
+agp = "8.11.2"
 kotlin = "1.9.0"
 coreKtx = "1.10.1"
 junit = "4.13.2"
diff --git a/spine-android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/spine-android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index 2cf9d9560..77f422ba5 100644
--- a/spine-android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/spine-android/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #Thu Apr 25 11:12:13 CEST 2024
 distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.4-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-8.14.3-bin.zip
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
diff --git a/spine-android/spine-android/src/main/java/com/esotericsoftware/spine/android/SpineView.java b/spine-android/spine-android/src/main/java/com/esotericsoftware/spine/android/SpineView.java
index 050d04a1e..00bfa1842 100644
--- a/spine-android/spine-android/src/main/java/com/esotericsoftware/spine/android/SpineView.java
+++ b/spine-android/spine-android/src/main/java/com/esotericsoftware/spine/android/SpineView.java
@@ -351,10 +351,18 @@ public class SpineView extends View implements Choreographer.FrameCallback {
 	}
 
 	private void loadFrom (AndroidSkeletonDrawableLoader loader) {
+		if (controller == null) {
+			throw new IllegalStateException(
+				"SpineController is not set. When using SpineView from XML, call setController(...) before loadFromAsset/loadFromFile/loadFromHttp/loadFromDrawable.");
+		}
 		Handler mainHandler = new Handler(Looper.getMainLooper());
 		Thread backgroundThread = new Thread( () -> {
 			final AndroidSkeletonDrawable skeletonDrawable = loader.load();
 			mainHandler.post( () -> {
+				if (controller == null) {
+					throw new IllegalStateException(
+						"SpineController became null before initialization. Ensure setController(...) is called and not cleared until loading completes.");
+				}
 				computedBounds = boundsProvider.computeBounds(skeletonDrawable);
 				updateCanvasTransform();