diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 9aeae49..8b8b449 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ===========================================================================
 5.7
 
+Fixed: TESTNG-169 Error message: <method> is depending on nonexistent method null ("null" is uninformative)
 Fixed: -listener takes comma-separated classes
 Added: RetryAnalyzer (experimental) (Jeremie)
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/testng/internal/BaseTestMethod.java b/src/main/org/testng/internal/BaseTestMethod.java
index 9c171f5..3ba14f0 100644
--- a/src/main/org/testng/internal/BaseTestMethod.java
+++ b/src/main/org/testng/internal/BaseTestMethod.java
@@ -385,8 +385,8 @@
       for (int i = 0; i < methodsDependedUpon.length; i++) {
         String m = methodsDependedUpon[i];
         if (m.indexOf(".") < 0) {
-          methodsDependedUpon[i] = 
-            MethodHelper.calculateMethodCanonicalName(m_methodClass, methodsDependedUpon[i]);
+          m = MethodHelper.calculateMethodCanonicalName(m_methodClass, methodsDependedUpon[i]); 
+          methodsDependedUpon[i] = m != null ? m : methodsDependedUpon[i];            
         }
       }
       setMethodsDependedUpon(methodsDependedUpon);