Null pointer exception in DiscussionForumTool.java, getNeedToPostFirst

public boolean getNeedToPostFirst() gets called without a selectedTopic resulting in crasch:

caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.sakaiproject.tool.messageforums.DiscussionForumTool.getNeedToPostFirst(DiscussionForumTool.java:2392)

Temporary workaround is to check if selectedTopic is null
if (selectedTopic == null)

{ LOG.error("No topic is selected in getNeedToPostFirst"); return true; }

return getNeedToPostFirst(currentUser, selectedTopic.getTopic(), selectedTopic.getMessages()).contains(currentUserId);