diff --git a/scim/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/scim/services/ScimResourceTypeResource.java b/scim/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/scim/services/ScimResourceTypeResource.java
index 1a68a2037625..f7480896f44a 100644
--- a/scim/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/scim/services/ScimResourceTypeResource.java
+++ b/scim/services/src/main/java/org/keycloak/scim/services/ScimResourceTypeResource.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.function.BiFunction;
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
@@ -223,7 +224,8 @@ public Response patch(@PathParam("id") String id, PatchRequest request) {
             return resourceNotFound(id);
         }
 
-        if (!request.getSchemas().contains(Scim.PATCH_OP_CORE_SCHEMA)) {
+        Set<String> schemas = request.getSchemas();
+        if (schemas == null || !schemas.contains(Scim.PATCH_OP_CORE_SCHEMA)) {
             return invalidSyntax("No PATCH op schema provided in request");
         }
 
diff --git a/scim/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/tests/scim/tck/UserTest.java b/scim/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/tests/scim/tck/UserTest.java
index cddbec8fce59..325716c62762 100644
--- a/scim/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/tests/scim/tck/UserTest.java
+++ b/scim/tests/base/src/test/java/org/keycloak/tests/scim/tck/UserTest.java
@@ -605,6 +605,27 @@ public void testPatchAdd() {
         assertEquals("Amanda", actual.getFirstName());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testPatchWithNullSchemas() {
+        User expected = client.users().create(createUser());
+
+        // a PATCH request body carrying "schemas": null deserializes the schemas set to null,
+        // which must yield a 400 invalidSyntax response rather than a NullPointerException
+        PatchRequest request = PatchRequest.create()
+                .add("active", "false")
+                .build();
+        request.setSchemas(null);
+
+        try {
+            client.users().patch(expected.getId(), request);
+            fail("should fail because the PATCH op schema is missing");
+        } catch (ScimClientException sce) {
+            ErrorResponse error = sce.getError();
+            assertNotNull(error);
+            assertEquals(400, error.getStatusInt());
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testPatchReplace() {
         User expected = client.users().create(createUser());