diff --git a/WHATSNEW b/WHATSNEW
index 6e1e4dacd..8b787bafa 100644
--- a/WHATSNEW
+++ b/WHATSNEW
@@ -13,6 +13,11 @@ Fixed bugs:
    maps.
    Bugzilla Report 48310.
 
+ * The filesmatch condition threw a NullPointerException when
+   comparing text files and the second file contained fewer lines than
+   the first one.
+   Bugzilla Report 48715.
+
 Other changes:
 --------------
 
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/ResourceUtils.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/ResourceUtils.java
index c2e03168e..d269ad4cb 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/ResourceUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/ResourceUtils.java
@@ -666,6 +666,9 @@ public class ResourceUtils {
             while (expected != null) {
                 String actual = in2.readLine();
                 if (!expected.equals(actual)) {
+                    if (actual == null) {
+                        return 1;
+                    }
                     return expected.compareTo(actual);
                 }
                 expected = in1.readLine();
diff --git a/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/condition/filesmatch-test.xml b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/condition/filesmatch-test.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..67e7c00f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/antunit/taskdefs/condition/filesmatch-test.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<!--
+  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+  contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+  this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+  The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+  (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+  the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  limitations under the License.
+-->
+<project default="antunit" xmlns:au="antlib:org.apache.ant.antunit">
+  <import file="../../antunit-base.xml" />
+
+  <target name="setUp">
+    <mkdir dir="${input}"/>
+  </target>
+
+  <target name="testMatchWithSmallerFile2"
+          description="https://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=48715"
+          depends="setUp">
+    <property name="file1" location="${input}/LS.properties"/>
+    <property name="file2" location="${input}/LS.properties.old"/>
+    <echo file="${file1}"><![CDATA[foo=foo
+bar=bar
+
+]]></echo>
+    <echo file="${file2}"><![CDATA[foo=foo
+]]></echo>
+    <au:assertFalse>
+      <filesmatch file1="${file1}" file2="${file2}" textfile="true"/>
+    </au:assertFalse>
+  </target>
+
+  <target name="testBinaryMatchWithSmallerFile2"
+          description="https://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=48715"
+          depends="setUp">
+    <property name="file1" location="${input}/LS.properties"/>
+    <property name="file2" location="${input}/LS.properties.old"/>
+    <echo file="${file1}"><![CDATA[foo=foo
+bar=bar
+
+]]></echo>
+    <echo file="${file2}"><![CDATA[foo=foo
+]]></echo>
+    <au:assertFalse>
+      <filesmatch file1="${file1}" file2="${file2}" textfile="false"/>
+    </au:assertFalse>
+  </target>
+
+</project>