diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedName.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedName.java
index 55075317f..b207abb47 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedName.java
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.xtext/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedName.java
@@ -95,9 +95,6 @@ public class QualifiedName implements Comparable<QualifiedName> {
 	}
 
 	public QualifiedName append(String segment) {
-		if (segment == null) {
-			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Segment cannot be null");
-		}
 		String[] newSegments = new String[getSegmentCount() + 1];
 		System.arraycopy(segments, 0, newSegments, 0, segments.length);
 		newSegments[segments.length] = segment;
diff --git a/tests/org.eclipse.xtext.tests/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedNameTest.java b/tests/org.eclipse.xtext.tests/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedNameTest.java
index 1ddf2f7a7..49772b0bd 100644
--- a/tests/org.eclipse.xtext.tests/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedNameTest.java
+++ b/tests/org.eclipse.xtext.tests/src/org/eclipse/xtext/naming/QualifiedNameTest.java
@@ -25,13 +25,6 @@ public class QualifiedNameTest extends TestCase {
 			fail("Exception expected");
 		} catch(IllegalArgumentException e) {}
 	}
-	
-	public void testAppendNull() {
-		try {
-			QualifiedName.create().append((String) null);
-			fail("Exception expected");
-		} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {}
-	}
 
 	public void testSegments() {
 		QualifiedName qn = QualifiedName.create("foo", "bar", "baz");