diff --git a/src/world/format/io/region/RegionWorldProvider.php b/src/world/format/io/region/RegionWorldProvider.php
index 3ac9132f6..df28c3ffe 100644
--- a/src/world/format/io/region/RegionWorldProvider.php
+++ b/src/world/format/io/region/RegionWorldProvider.php
@@ -173,6 +173,9 @@ abstract class RegionWorldProvider extends BaseWorldProvider{
 	protected static function readFixedSizeByteArray(CompoundTag $chunk, string $tagName, int $length) : string{
 		$tag = $chunk->getTag($tagName);
 		if(!($tag instanceof ByteArrayTag)){
+			if($tag === null){
+				throw new CorruptedChunkException("'$tagName' key is missing from chunk NBT");
+			}
 			throw new CorruptedChunkException("Expected TAG_ByteArray for '$tagName'");
 		}
 		$data = $tag->getValue();