diff --git a/liquibase-core/src/main/java/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapper.java b/liquibase-core/src/main/java/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapper.java
index f86c0b68025..59a6696660f 100644
--- a/liquibase-core/src/main/java/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapper.java
+++ b/liquibase-core/src/main/java/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapper.java
@@ -291,7 +291,11 @@ public String getSerializedObjectNamespace() {
     @Override
     public void load(ParsedNode parsedNode, ResourceAccessor resourceAccessor) throws ParsedNodeException {
         try {
-            setClass(parsedNode.getChildValue(null, "class", String.class));
+            String classNameValue = parsedNode.getChildValue(null, "class", String.class);
+            if (classNameValue == null) {
+                throw new ParsedNodeException("Custom change node has no 'class' attribute!");
+            }
+            setClass(classNameValue);
         } catch (CustomChangeException e) {
             throw new ParsedNodeException(e);
         }
diff --git a/liquibase-core/src/test/groovy/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapperTest.groovy b/liquibase-core/src/test/groovy/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapperTest.groovy
index 2c2df21ee8f..3adb9dc52f2 100644
--- a/liquibase-core/src/test/groovy/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapperTest.groovy
+++ b/liquibase-core/src/test/groovy/liquibase/change/custom/CustomChangeWrapperTest.groovy
@@ -273,6 +273,16 @@ class CustomChangeWrapperTest extends Specification {
 
     }
 
+    def "customChange without class fails expectedly"() {
+        when:
+        def node = new ParsedNode(null, "customChange")
+        def change = new CustomChangeWrapper()
+        change.load(node, resourceSupplier.simpleResourceAccessor)
+
+        then:
+        thrown(ParsedNodeException.class)
+    }
+
     def "load handles params in a 'params' collection"() {
         when:
         def node = new ParsedNode(null, "customChange")