diff --git a/Scripts/Editor/NodeGraphEditor.cs b/Scripts/Editor/NodeGraphEditor.cs
index 191d10b..60b0cdb 100644
--- a/Scripts/Editor/NodeGraphEditor.cs
+++ b/Scripts/Editor/NodeGraphEditor.cs
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ namespace XNodeEditor {
                 if (disallowed) menu.AddItem(new GUIContent(path), false, null);
                 else menu.AddItem(new GUIContent(path), false, () => {
                     XNode.Node node = CreateNode(type, pos);
-                    NodeEditorWindow.current.AutoConnect(node);
+                    if (node != null) NodeEditorWindow.current.AutoConnect(node); // handle null nodes to avoid nullref exceptions
                 });
             }
             menu.AddSeparator("");
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@ namespace XNodeEditor {
         public virtual XNode.Node CreateNode(Type type, Vector2 position) {
             Undo.RecordObject(target, "Create Node");
             XNode.Node node = target.AddNode(type);
+            if (node == null) return null; // handle null nodes to avoid nullref exceptions
             Undo.RegisterCreatedObjectUndo(node, "Create Node");
             node.position = position;
             if (node.name == null || node.name.Trim() == "") node.name = NodeEditorUtilities.NodeDefaultName(type);