diff --git a/api/src/test/java/org/openmrs/api/PatientServiceTest.java b/api/src/test/java/org/openmrs/api/PatientServiceTest.java
index a4f3d1c0610..f0ea5a908f4 100644
--- a/api/src/test/java/org/openmrs/api/PatientServiceTest.java
+++ b/api/src/test/java/org/openmrs/api/PatientServiceTest.java
@@ -2039,6 +2039,11 @@ public void purgePatient_shouldDeletePatientFromDatabase() throws Exception {
 		assertNull(patientService.getPatient(2));
 	}
 
+	@Test
+    public void purgePatient_shouldThrowIllegalArgumentExceptionWhenPatientIsNull() {
+    assertThrows(IllegalArgumentException.class, () -> patientService.purgePatient(null));
+    }
+
 	@Test
 	public void getPatients_shouldNotReturnVoidedPatients() throws Exception {
 		executeDataSet(FIND_PATIENTS_XML);