diff --git a/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/TunnelRenderer.java b/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/TunnelRenderer.java
index 74a585d48a09080d9e6be76b4c285378de510717..71aca046c339377c3268e625f05188f8bfa62add 100644
--- a/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/TunnelRenderer.java
+++ b/apps/routerconsole/java/src/net/i2p/router/web/TunnelRenderer.java
@@ -306,6 +306,10 @@ public class TunnelRenderer {
             String lc = this.comm.getCountry(l);
             String rc = this.comm.getCountry(r);
             
+            // make them non-null
+            lc = (lc == null) ? "zzzz" : lc;
+            rc = (rc == null) ? "zzzz" : rc;
+            
             // let String handle the rest
             return lc.compareTo(rc);
         }