If there is some data in file-store and preload is used on invalidation cache, exception is thrown: ... Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: null at org.infinispan.remoting.rpc.RpcManagerImpl.setTopologyId(RpcManagerImpl.java:300) ~[infinispan-core-8.1.0.Final.jar:8.1.0.Final] at org.infinispan.remoting.rpc.RpcManagerImpl.invokeRemotelyAsync(RpcManagerImpl.java:136) ~[infinispan-core-8.1.0.Final.jar:8.1.0.Final] at org.infinispan.remoting.rpc.RpcManagerImpl.invokeRemotely(RpcManagerImpl.java:203) ~[infinispan-core-8.1.0.Final.jar:8.1.0.Final] at org.infinispan.interceptors.InvalidationInterceptor.invalidateAcrossCluster(InvalidationInterceptor.java:249) ~[infinispan-core-8.1.0.Final.jar:8.1.0.Final] at org.infinispan.interceptors.InvalidationInterceptor.visitCommitCommand(InvalidationInterceptor.java:138) ~[infinispan-core-8.1.0.Final.jar:8.1.0.Final] ... full stacktrace available in attachment. There is also configuration of infinispan and jgroup tcp attached as well. This is very similar to https://issues.jboss.org/browse/ISPN-2723#comment-12749872 , since this part is true Looks to me the NPE comes from stateTransferManager.getCacheTopology() returning null. That could potentially happen if preloading started before StateConsumerImpl.onTopologyUpdate() has executed.