diff --git a/src/cpp/ext/filters/census/grpc_plugin.cc b/src/cpp/ext/filters/census/grpc_plugin.cc
index a3bd061f5d5..09788a615eb 100644
--- a/src/cpp/ext/filters/census/grpc_plugin.cc
+++ b/src/cpp/ext/filters/census/grpc_plugin.cc
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ void RegisterOpenCensusPlugin() {
 
 ::opencensus::trace::Span GetSpanFromServerContext(
     grpc::ServerContext* context) {
+  if (context == nullptr) return opencensus::trace::Span::BlankSpan();
+
   return reinterpret_cast<const grpc::CensusContext*>(context->census_context())
       ->Span();
 }
diff --git a/src/cpp/server/server_context.cc b/src/cpp/server/server_context.cc
index c7cad23741c..ba32f797a57 100644
--- a/src/cpp/server/server_context.cc
+++ b/src/cpp/server/server_context.cc
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ std::string ServerContextBase::peer() const {
 }
 
 const struct census_context* ServerContextBase::census_context() const {
-  return grpc_census_call_get_context(call_);
+  return call_ == nullptr ? nullptr : grpc_census_call_get_context(call_);
 }
 
 void ServerContextBase::SetLoadReportingCosts(