diff --git a/pmml-sklearn-xgboost/src/main/java/xgboost/sklearn/BoosterUtil.java b/pmml-sklearn-xgboost/src/main/java/xgboost/sklearn/BoosterUtil.java
index f3fc74547..17d529824 100644
--- a/pmml-sklearn-xgboost/src/main/java/xgboost/sklearn/BoosterUtil.java
+++ b/pmml-sklearn-xgboost/src/main/java/xgboost/sklearn/BoosterUtil.java
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ public <E extends Estimator & HasBooster & HasXGBoostOptions> PMML encodePMML(E
 		Learner learner = getLearner(estimator);
 
 		FeatureMap featureMap = learner.encodeFeatureMap();
+		if(featureMap == null){
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException();
+		}
 
 		// XXX
 		Map<String, ?> options = estimator.getNativeConfiguration();
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 3dac36348..2f2f96a18 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
 			<dependency>
 				<groupId>org.jpmml</groupId>
 				<artifactId>pmml-xgboost</artifactId>
-				<version>1.7.4</version>
+				<version>1.8.0</version>
 			</dependency>
 
 			<dependency>