diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java
index 6e18fdb..221ab2f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/ForwardedIndexChangeHandler.java
@@ -73,11 +73,12 @@
   }
 
   private static boolean isCausedByNoSuchChangeException(Throwable throwable) {
-    while (throwable != null) {
-      if (throwable instanceof NoSuchChangeException) {
+    Throwable cause = throwable;
+    while (cause != null) {
+      if (cause instanceof NoSuchChangeException) {
         return true;
       }
-      throwable = throwable.getCause();
+      cause = cause.getCause();
     }
     return false;
   }