diff --git a/src/main/java/org/codehaus/groovy/ast/tools/GenericsUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/codehaus/groovy/ast/tools/GenericsUtils.java
index 9d0d5409b97..ff13161fa77 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/codehaus/groovy/ast/tools/GenericsUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/codehaus/groovy/ast/tools/GenericsUtils.java
@@ -423,7 +423,9 @@ public static ClassNode correctToGenericsSpecRecurse(Map<String, ClassNode> gene
                     newgTypes[i] = fixed;
                 } else if (oldgType.isPlaceholder()) {
                     // correct "T"
-                    newgTypes[i] = new GenericsType(genericsSpec.getOrDefault(oldgType.getName(), ClassHelper.OBJECT_TYPE));
+                    ClassNode t = genericsSpec.get(oldgType.getName());
+                    if (t == null) t = ClassHelper.OBJECT_TYPE;
+                    newgTypes[i] = new GenericsType(t);
                 } else {
                     // correct "List<T>", etc.
                     newgTypes[i] = new GenericsType(correctToGenericsSpecRecurse(genericsSpec, correctToGenericsSpec(genericsSpec, oldgType), exclusions));