This is the most minimal example that still generates the warning:

```
File searchpath = new File(path);
for(File file: searchpath.listFiles()){ ... }

```

(path is a string passed into this method)

The second line, with the `for` loop, triggers an IDE warning:

`Dereference of searchPath.listFiles() may produce 'java.lang.NullPointerException'`

Given that I just initialized the variable, and that my program works, my first instinct is that this is a crap warning.

Is this a valid warning, and if so, how do I clear it?

\*edit1

File, per its Javadoc, will throw a NPE if you give it a null path. So, clearing the error seems like it would be a case of annotating the `path` argument so that it's known to never be null.