diff --git a/src/module/serializer.js b/src/module/serializer.js
index eb52124..bd354fc 100644
--- a/src/module/serializer.js
+++ b/src/module/serializer.js
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 RMModule.factory('RMSerializer', ['$injector', 'inflector', '$filter', 'RMUtils', function($injector, inflector, $filter, Utils) {
 
   function extract(_from, _path) {
+    if(_from === null && _path.length > 1) return undefined;
+
     var node;
     for(var i = 0; _from && (node = _path[i]); i++) {
       _from = _from[node];
diff --git a/test/serializer-spec.js b/test/serializer-spec.js
index ebbd815..114bb02 100644
--- a/test/serializer-spec.js
+++ b/test/serializer-spec.js
@@ -252,6 +252,16 @@ describe('Restmod serializer', function() {
       expect(result.brand.full_name).toEqual('Giant');
     });
 
+    it('should properly handle null parent when processing nested properties', function() {
+      var spy = jasmine.createSpy();
+
+      serializer.dsl().attrMap('brand', 'brand.full_name');
+      serializer.dsl().attrDecoder('brand', spy);
+
+      serializer.decode({}, null, '');
+      expect(spy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
     it('should allow mapping to a server property inside an ignored property', function() {
       serializer.dsl().attrMap('brandName', 'brand.full_name');
       serializer.dsl().attrMask('brand', true);