diff --git a/extras/src/main/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapter.java b/extras/src/main/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapter.java
index d9269df7..5e8c0cce 100644
--- a/extras/src/main/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapter.java
+++ b/extras/src/main/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapter.java
@@ -37,9 +37,10 @@ public final class UtcDateTypeAdapter extends TypeAdapter<Date> {
   public void write(JsonWriter out, Date date) throws IOException {
     if (date == null) {
       out.nullValue();
+    } else {
+      String value = format(date, true, UTC_TIME_ZONE);
+      out.value(value);
     }
-    String value = format(date, true, UTC_TIME_ZONE);
-    out.value(value);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/extras/src/test/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapterTest.java b/extras/src/test/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapterTest.java
index c69b4c59..902dc477 100644
--- a/extras/src/test/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapterTest.java
+++ b/extras/src/test/java/com/google/gson/typeadapters/UtcDateTypeAdapterTest.java
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ import com.google.gson.GsonBuilder;
 
 public final class UtcDateTypeAdapterTest extends TestCase {
   private final Gson gson = new GsonBuilder()
-  .registerTypeAdapter(Date.class, new UtcDateTypeAdapter())
-  .create();
+    .registerTypeAdapter(Date.class, new UtcDateTypeAdapter())
+    .create();
 
   public void testLocalTimeZone() {
     Date expected = new Date();
@@ -71,4 +71,9 @@ public final class UtcDateTypeAdapterTest extends TestCase {
     Date actual = gson.fromJson(expectedJson, Date.class);
     assertEquals(expected.getTime(), actual.getTime());
   }
+
+  public void testNullDateSerialization() {
+    String json = gson.toJson(null, Date.class);
+    assertEquals("null", json);
+  }
 }