diff --git a/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/ariadneplus/graphdb/GraphDBClient.java b/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/ariadneplus/graphdb/GraphDBClient.java
index 0923ff2..16a83ba 100644
--- a/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/ariadneplus/graphdb/GraphDBClient.java
+++ b/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/ariadneplus/graphdb/GraphDBClient.java
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ public class GraphDBClient {
 			RemoteRepositoryManager manager = new RemoteRepositoryManager(this.graphDBServerUrl);
 			manager.init();
 			manager.setUsernameAndPassword(getWriterUser(), getWriterPwd());
+			log.debug("get manager for GraphDB Repository " + getRepository());
 			Repository repository = manager.getRepository(getRepository());
 			ValueFactory factory = repository.getValueFactory();
 			String datasourceApi = recordParserHelper.getDatasourceApi(record);
@@ -246,6 +247,9 @@ public class GraphDBClient {
 			manager.init();
 			manager.setUsernameAndPassword(getWriterUser(), getWriterPwd());
 			Repository repository = manager.getRepository(getRepository());
+			if (repository==null) {
+				throw new AriadnePlusPublisherException("GraphDB repository not found");
+			}
 			ValueFactory factory = repository.getValueFactory();
 			IRI HAS_NUM_PARTITIONS = factory.createIRI("http://www.d-net.research-infrastructures.eu/provenance/num_partitions");
 			IRI rApi = factory.createIRI(getGraphDBBaseURI(), datasourceApi);
diff --git a/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/resources/application.properties b/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 43e9c37..e367fe5 100644
--- a/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/dnet-ariadneplus-graphdb-publisher/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-server.contextPath=/ariadneplus-graphdb
+#server.contextPath=/ariadneplus-graphdb
+#update due to springboot 2.1.3
+server.servlet.context-path=/ariadneplus-graphdb
 server.port=8281
 
 graphdb.serverUrl=http://localhost:7200/