diff --git a/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/ConfigBuildStep.java b/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/ConfigBuildStep.java
index 4f322f5097813..1724044dd39e3 100644
--- a/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/ConfigBuildStep.java
+++ b/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/ConfigBuildStep.java
@@ -410,15 +410,19 @@ void validateConfigMappingsInjectionPoints(
             if (configClass != null) {
                 AnnotationTarget target = injectionPoint.getAnnotationTarget();
                 AnnotationInstance mapping = null;
-                if (target.kind().equals(FIELD)) {
-                    mapping = target.asField().annotation(CONFIG_MAPPING_NAME);
-                } else if (target.kind().equals(METHOD_PARAMETER)) {
-                    MethodParameterInfo methodParameterInfo = target.asMethodParameter();
-                    if (methodParameterInfo.type().name().equals(type.name())) {
-                        Set<AnnotationInstance> parameterAnnotations = getParameterAnnotations(
-                                validationPhase.getBeanProcessor().getBeanDeployment(),
-                                target.asMethodParameter().method(), methodParameterInfo.position());
-                        mapping = Annotations.find(parameterAnnotations, CONFIG_MAPPING_NAME);
+
+                // target can be null for synthetic injection point
+                if (target != null) {
+                    if (target.kind().equals(FIELD)) {
+                        mapping = target.asField().annotation(CONFIG_MAPPING_NAME);
+                    } else if (target.kind().equals(METHOD_PARAMETER)) {
+                        MethodParameterInfo methodParameterInfo = target.asMethodParameter();
+                        if (methodParameterInfo.type().name().equals(type.name())) {
+                            Set<AnnotationInstance> parameterAnnotations = getParameterAnnotations(
+                                    validationPhase.getBeanProcessor().getBeanDeployment(),
+                                    target.asMethodParameter().method(), methodParameterInfo.position());
+                            mapping = Annotations.find(parameterAnnotations, CONFIG_MAPPING_NAME);
+                        }
                     }
                 }