diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7663f3fa70..3585d06b8a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ After this we will switch probably to real [Semantic Versioning 2.0.0](http://se
 * Feature 718: Detect port number from configuration file for health check in Thorntail 
 * Refactor 828: Moved Metedata specific code into DefaultMetadataEnricher
 * Feature 718: Detect port number from configuration file for health check in Thorntail
+* Fix NullPointerException in ClusterConfiguration during fabric8:watch
+* Feature 1498: Allow users to define secrets from annotations 
 * Feature 1498: Allow users to define secrets from annotations
 * Fix 1517: update vmp groupid and vert.x version
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/core/access/ClusterConfiguration.java b/core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/core/access/ClusterConfiguration.java
index aaf1053b2b..cc8ea9724d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/core/access/ClusterConfiguration.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/core/access/ClusterConfiguration.java
@@ -43,12 +43,10 @@ public class ClusterConfiguration {
     private String keyStorePassphrase;
 
     private ClusterConfiguration() {
+        this.namespace = KubernetesHelper.getDefaultNamespace();
     }
 
     public String getNamespace() {
-        if (StringUtils.isBlank(this.namespace)) {
-            this.namespace = KubernetesHelper.getDefaultNamespace();
-        }
         return namespace;
     }
 
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/plugin/mojo/develop/WatchMojo.java b/plugin/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/plugin/mojo/develop/WatchMojo.java
index 0ca892a6f1..04d1a5558e 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/plugin/mojo/develop/WatchMojo.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/io/fabric8/maven/plugin/mojo/develop/WatchMojo.java
@@ -168,6 +168,9 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
     }
 
     protected ClusterConfiguration getClusterConfiguration() {
+        if(access == null) {
+            access = new ClusterConfiguration.Builder().build();
+        }
         final ClusterConfiguration.Builder clusterConfigurationBuilder = new ClusterConfiguration.Builder(access);
 
         return clusterConfigurationBuilder.from(System.getProperties())