diff --git a/buildtools/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/tests/ThreadLeakDetectorListener.java b/buildtools/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/tests/ThreadLeakDetectorListener.java
index 98ac0ae2c2776..0757730423688 100644
--- a/buildtools/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/tests/ThreadLeakDetectorListener.java
+++ b/buildtools/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/tests/ThreadLeakDetectorListener.java
@@ -177,7 +177,8 @@ private static boolean shouldSkipThread(Thread thread) {
             return true;
         }
         // skip Testcontainers threads
-        if (thread.getThreadGroup() != null && "testcontainers".equals(thread.getThreadGroup().getName())) {
+        final ThreadGroup threadGroup = thread.getThreadGroup();
+        if (threadGroup != null && "testcontainers".equals(threadGroup.getName())) {
             return true;
         }
         String threadName = thread.getName();