From 3ef62566f96220411e865531dead32a371fd2c9c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sajeer <sajeer.babu@ibm.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:30:49 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] SYNC to main

---
 .../java/io/openliberty/tools/common/plugins/util/DevUtil.java  | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/common/plugins/util/DevUtil.java b/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/common/plugins/util/DevUtil.java
index a4d8c509e..8e3ad1e42 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/common/plugins/util/DevUtil.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/common/plugins/util/DevUtil.java
@@ -3802,7 +3802,7 @@ protected Collection<File> getOmitFilesList(File looseAppFile, String srcDirecto
             }
         } catch (ParserConfigurationException | SAXException | IOException e) {
             error("Unable to read loose application configuration file: " + looseAppFile.toString());
-            return null;
+            return omitFiles;
         }
         return omitFiles;
     }