Index: src/java/org/apache/nutch/storage/ProtocolStatus.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/nutch/storage/ProtocolStatus.java	(revision 1431639)
+++ src/java/org/apache/nutch/storage/ProtocolStatus.java	(working copy)
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 import org.apache.gora.persistency.impl.StateManagerImpl;
 import org.apache.gora.persistency.StatefulHashMap;
 import org.apache.gora.persistency.ListGenericArray;
+import org.apache.nutch.protocol.ProtocolStatusUtils;
 
 @SuppressWarnings("all")
 public class ProtocolStatus extends PersistentBase {
@@ -107,4 +108,12 @@
   public void setLastModified(long value) {
     put(2, value);
   }
+  
+  /**
+   * A convenience method which returns a successful {@link ProtocolStatus}.
+   * @return the {@link ProtocolStatus} value for 200 (success).
+   */
+  public boolean isSuccess() {
+    return code == ProtocolStatusUtils.SUCCESS; 
+  }
 }
Index: src/java/org/apache/nutch/parse/ParserChecker.java
===================================================================
--- src/java/org/apache/nutch/parse/ParserChecker.java	(revision 1431639)
+++ src/java/org/apache/nutch/parse/ParserChecker.java	(working copy)
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import org.apache.nutch.protocol.Content;
 import org.apache.nutch.protocol.Protocol;
 import org.apache.nutch.protocol.ProtocolFactory;
+import org.apache.nutch.protocol.ProtocolOutput;
 import org.apache.nutch.storage.WebPage;
 import org.apache.nutch.util.Bytes;
 import org.apache.nutch.util.NutchConfiguration;
@@ -83,7 +84,19 @@
     ProtocolFactory factory = new ProtocolFactory(conf);
     Protocol protocol = factory.getProtocol(url);
     WebPage page = new WebPage();
-    Content content = protocol.getProtocolOutput(url, page).getContent();
+    
+    ProtocolOutput output = protocol.getProtocolOutput(url, page);
+    
+    if(!output.getStatus().isSuccess()) {
+      LOG.error("Fetch failed with protocol status: " + output.getStatus());
+      return (-1);
+    }
+    Content content = output.getContent();
+    
+    if (content == null) {
+      LOG.error("No content for " + url);
+      return (-1);
+    }
     page.setBaseUrl(new org.apache.avro.util.Utf8(url));
     page.setContent(ByteBuffer.wrap(content.getContent()));