diff --git a/src/modeler/AutoRest.Swagger/JsonConverters/ResponseRefConverter.cs b/src/modeler/AutoRest.Swagger/JsonConverters/ResponseRefConverter.cs
index d227c142a4..c8fcf2f430 100644
--- a/src/modeler/AutoRest.Swagger/JsonConverters/ResponseRefConverter.cs
+++ b/src/modeler/AutoRest.Swagger/JsonConverters/ResponseRefConverter.cs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, System.Type objectType, objec
             JObject jo = JObject.Load(reader);
             string referencePath = null;
             // Unwrap if it's a reference object
-            if (jo.First.Path == "$ref")
+            if ((jo.First != null) && (jo.First.Path == "$ref"))
             {
                 referencePath = jo.GetValue("$ref", StringComparison.Ordinal).ToString();
                 // Shorthand notation
@@ -42,4 +42,4 @@ public override object ReadJson(JsonReader reader, System.Type objectType, objec
             return swaggerResponse;
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}