diff --git a/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/ResponseSubscribers.java b/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/ResponseSubscribers.java
index ed95f815913..09ad87f9205 100644
--- a/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/ResponseSubscribers.java
+++ b/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/ResponseSubscribers.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2016, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2016, 2024, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -356,6 +356,7 @@ public class ResponseSubscribers {
             // incoming buffers are allocated by http client internally,
             // and won't be used anywhere except this place.
             // So it's free simply to store them for further processing.
+            Objects.requireNonNull(items); // ensure NPE is thrown before assert
             assert Utils.hasRemaining(items);
             received.addAll(items);
         }
diff --git a/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/common/Utils.java b/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/common/Utils.java
index 9bd7f350286..b2eb570db0c 100644
--- a/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/common/Utils.java
+++ b/src/java.net.http/share/classes/jdk/internal/net/http/common/Utils.java
@@ -746,6 +746,7 @@ public final class Utils {
     }
 
     public static long remaining(ByteBuffer[] bufs) {
+        if (bufs == null) return 0;
         long remain = 0;
         for (ByteBuffer buf : bufs) {
             remain += buf.remaining();
@@ -754,6 +755,7 @@ public final class Utils {
     }
 
     public static boolean hasRemaining(List<ByteBuffer> bufs) {
+        if (bufs == null) return false;
         for (ByteBuffer buf : bufs) {
             if (buf.hasRemaining())
                 return true;
@@ -762,6 +764,7 @@ public final class Utils {
     }
 
     public static boolean hasRemaining(ByteBuffer[] bufs) {
+        if (bufs == null) return false;
         for (ByteBuffer buf : bufs) {
             if (buf.hasRemaining())
                 return true;
@@ -770,6 +773,7 @@ public final class Utils {
     }
 
     public static long remaining(List<ByteBuffer> bufs) {
+        if (bufs == null) return 0L;
         long remain = 0;
         for (ByteBuffer buf : bufs) {
             remain += buf.remaining();
@@ -778,12 +782,14 @@ public final class Utils {
     }
 
     public static long synchronizedRemaining(List<ByteBuffer> bufs) {
+        if (bufs == null) return 0L;
         synchronized (bufs) {
             return remaining(bufs);
         }
     }
 
-    public static int remaining(List<ByteBuffer> bufs, int max) {
+    public static long remaining(List<ByteBuffer> bufs, long max) {
+        if (bufs == null) return 0;
         long remain = 0;
         for (ByteBuffer buf : bufs) {
             remain += buf.remaining();
@@ -794,7 +800,13 @@ public final class Utils {
         return (int) remain;
     }
 
-    public static int remaining(ByteBuffer[] refs, int max) {
+    public static int remaining(List<ByteBuffer> bufs, int max) {
+        // safe cast since max is an int
+        return (int) remaining(bufs, (long) max);
+    }
+
+    public static long remaining(ByteBuffer[] refs, long max) {
+        if (refs == null) return 0;
         long remain = 0;
         for (ByteBuffer b : refs) {
             remain += b.remaining();
@@ -805,6 +817,11 @@ public final class Utils {
         return (int) remain;
     }
 
+    public static int remaining(ByteBuffer[] refs, int max) {
+        // safe cast since max is an int
+        return (int) remaining(refs, (long) max);
+    }
+
     public static void close(Closeable... closeables) {
         for (Closeable c : closeables) {
             try {
diff --git a/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/BodySubscribersTest.java b/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/BodySubscribersTest.java
index 508cc95abb0..5ee7ed4ef62 100644
--- a/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/BodySubscribersTest.java
+++ b/test/jdk/java/net/httpclient/BodySubscribersTest.java
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 /*
  * @test
  * @summary Basic test for the standard BodySubscribers default behavior
- * @bug 8225583
+ * @bug 8225583 8334028
  * @run testng BodySubscribersTest
  */