diff --git a/src/jdk.jshell/share/classes/jdk/jshell/execution/impl/ConsoleImpl.java b/src/jdk.jshell/share/classes/jdk/jshell/execution/impl/ConsoleImpl.java
index e481a699d1b..b85b8c9ea0f 100644
--- a/src/jdk.jshell/share/classes/jdk/jshell/execution/impl/ConsoleImpl.java
+++ b/src/jdk.jshell/share/classes/jdk/jshell/execution/impl/ConsoleImpl.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import java.io.Writer;
 import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Objects;
 
 import jdk.internal.io.JdkConsole;
 import jdk.internal.io.JdkConsoleProvider;
@@ -218,10 +219,11 @@ public class ConsoleImpl {
          */
         @Override
         public String readln(String prompt) {
+            char[] chars = (prompt == null ? "null" : prompt).toCharArray();
+
             try {
                 return sendAndReceive(() -> {
                     remoteInput.write(Task.READ_LINE.ordinal());
-                    char[] chars = (prompt == null ? "null" : prompt).toCharArray();
                     sendChars(chars, 0, chars.length);
                     char[] line = readChars();
                     return new String(line);
@@ -245,11 +247,14 @@ public class ConsoleImpl {
          */
         @Override
         public String readLine(Locale locale, String format, Object... args) {
+            Objects.requireNonNull(format, "the format String must be non-null");
+
+            String prompt = String.format(locale, format, args);
+            char[] chars = prompt.toCharArray();
+
             try {
                 return sendAndReceive(() -> {
                     remoteInput.write(Task.READ_LINE.ordinal());
-                    String prompt = String.format(locale, format, args);
-                    char[] chars = prompt.toCharArray();
                     sendChars(chars, 0, chars.length);
                     char[] line = readChars();
                     return new String(line);
@@ -272,11 +277,14 @@ public class ConsoleImpl {
          */
         @Override
         public char[] readPassword(Locale locale, String format, Object... args) {
+            Objects.requireNonNull(format, "the format String must be non-null");
+
+            String prompt = String.format(locale, format, args);
+            char[] chars = prompt.toCharArray();
+
             try {
                 return sendAndReceive(() -> {
                     remoteInput.write(Task.READ_PASSWORD.ordinal());
-                    String prompt = String.format(locale, format, args);
-                    char[] chars = prompt.toCharArray();
                     sendChars(chars, 0, chars.length);
                     return readChars();
                 });
diff --git a/test/langtools/jdk/jshell/ConsoleTest.java b/test/langtools/jdk/jshell/ConsoleTest.java
index c6ddddac44b..29961a180ba 100644
--- a/test/langtools/jdk/jshell/ConsoleTest.java
+++ b/test/langtools/jdk/jshell/ConsoleTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2023, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -40,8 +40,10 @@ import java.nio.charset.Charset;
 import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.Consumer;
+import jdk.jshell.EvalException;
 import jdk.jshell.JShell;
 import jdk.jshell.JShellConsole;
+import jdk.jshell.Snippet.Status;
 
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 import static org.testng.Assert.*;
@@ -183,6 +185,15 @@ public class ConsoleTest extends KullaTesting {
         assertEquals(sb.toString(), expected);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testNPE() {
+        console = new ThrowingJShellConsole();
+        assertEval("System.console().readLine(null)", DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, chain(added(Status.VALID), null, EvalException.class));
+        assertEval("System.console().readPassword(null)", DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, chain(added(Status.VALID), null, EvalException.class));
+        assertEval("System.console().readLine(\"%d\", \"\")", DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, chain(added(Status.VALID), null, EvalException.class));
+        assertEval("System.console().readPassword(\"%d\", \"\")", DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, DiagCheck.DIAG_OK, chain(added(Status.VALID), null, EvalException.class));
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void setUp(Consumer<JShell.Builder> bc) {
         super.setUp(bc.andThen(b -> b.console(new JShellConsole() {