diff --git a/src/Field/Configurator/AssociationConfigurator.php b/src/Field/Configurator/AssociationConfigurator.php
index e5f8702038..755f75bcd5 100644
--- a/src/Field/Configurator/AssociationConfigurator.php
+++ b/src/Field/Configurator/AssociationConfigurator.php
@@ -118,11 +118,13 @@ public function configure(FieldDto $field, EntityDto $entityDto, AdminContext $c
             $field->setFormTypeOptionIfNotSet('class', $targetEntityFqcn);
 
             try {
-                $relatedEntityId = $accessor->getValue($entityDto->getInstance(), $propertyName.'.'.$metadata->getIdentifierFieldNames()[0]);
-                $relatedEntityDto = $this->entityFactory->create($targetEntityFqcn, $relatedEntityId);
+                if (null !== $entityDto->getInstance()) {
+                    $relatedEntityId = $accessor->getValue($entityDto->getInstance(), $propertyName.'.'.$metadata->getIdentifierFieldNames()[0]);
+                    $relatedEntityDto = $this->entityFactory->create($targetEntityFqcn, $relatedEntityId);
 
-                $field->setCustomOption(AssociationField::OPTION_RELATED_URL, $this->generateLinkToAssociatedEntity($targetCrudControllerFqcn, $relatedEntityDto));
-                $field->setFormattedValue($this->formatAsString($relatedEntityDto->getInstance(), $relatedEntityDto));
+                    $field->setCustomOption(AssociationField::OPTION_RELATED_URL, $this->generateLinkToAssociatedEntity($targetCrudControllerFqcn, $relatedEntityDto));
+                    $field->setFormattedValue($this->formatAsString($relatedEntityDto->getInstance(), $relatedEntityDto));
+                }
             } catch (UnexpectedTypeException) {
                 // this may crash if something in the tree is null, so just do nothing then
             }