diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/GsonToMiniGsonTypeAdapter.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/GsonToMiniGsonTypeAdapter.java
index 5347d10e..0daa1ff4 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/GsonToMiniGsonTypeAdapter.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/GsonToMiniGsonTypeAdapter.java
@@ -51,7 +51,11 @@ final class GsonToMiniGsonTypeAdapter implements TypeAdapter.Factory {
           // TODO: handle if deserializer is null
           throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
         }
-        return deserializer.deserialize(Streams.parse(reader), typeOfT, createDeserializationContext(miniGson));
+        JsonElement value = Streams.parse(reader);
+        if (value.isJsonNull()) {
+          return null;
+        }
+        return deserializer.deserialize(value, typeOfT, createDeserializationContext(miniGson));
       }
       @Override
       public void write(JsonWriter writer, Object value) throws IOException {
diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java
index 5ed477e4..79938598 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/JsonElement.java
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ public abstract class JsonElement {
     if (isJsonObject()) {
       return (JsonObject) this;
     }
-    throw new IllegalStateException("This is not a JSON Object.");
+    throw new IllegalStateException("Not a JSON Object: " + this);
   }
 
   /**