diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8f9f87bc..185b0bf6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 ## Release History
 
+### 1.14.1 (2024-02-29)
+#### Key Bug Fixes
+* Fixed `NullPointerException` in `CosmosDBSourceConnector`. [PR 555](https://github.com/microsoft/kafka-connect-cosmosdb/pull/555)
+
 ### 1.14.0 (2024-02-28)
 #### New Features
 * Updated `azure-cosmos` version to 4.56.0.
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 61f90e50..78d12178 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
     <groupId>com.azure.cosmos.kafka</groupId>
     <artifactId>kafka-connect-cosmos</artifactId>
-    <version>1.14.0</version>
+    <version>1.14.1</version>
 
     <name> kafka-connect-cosmos</name>
     <url>https://github.com/microsoft/kafka-connect-cosmosdb</url>
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTask.java b/src/main/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTask.java
index 0bc8d426..39e8f646 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTask.java
@@ -63,8 +63,9 @@ public String version() {
 
     @Override
     public void start(Map<String, String> map) {
-        logger.info("Worker {} Starting CosmosDBSourceTask.", this.config.getWorkerName());
-        config = new CosmosDBSourceConfig(map);        
+        logger.info("Starting CosmosDBSourceTask.");
+        config = new CosmosDBSourceConfig(map);
+
         this.queue = new LinkedTransferQueue<>();
 
         logger.info("Worker {} Creating the client.", this.config.getWorkerName());
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTaskTest.java b/src/test/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTaskTest.java
index dd5b0849..90020b72 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTaskTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/azure/cosmos/kafka/connect/source/CosmosDBSourceTaskTest.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@
 import org.mockito.Mockito;
 
 public class CosmosDBSourceTaskTest {
+    private final static String COSMOS_EMULATOR_KEY = "C2y6yDjf5/R+ob0N8A7Cgv30VRDJIWEHLM+4QDU5DE2nQ9nDuVTqobD4b8mGGyPMbIZnqyMsEcaGQy67XIw/Jw==";
+    private final static String COSMOS_EMULATOR_HOST = "https://localhost:8081/";
     private CosmosDBSourceTask testTask;
     private final String topicName = "testtopic";
     private final String containerName = "container666";
@@ -96,6 +99,17 @@ public void setup() throws IllegalAccessException {
 
     }
 
+    @Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+    public void start() {
+        CosmosDBSourceTask testTask = new CosmosDBSourceTask();
+        HashMap<String, String> configs = new HashMap<>();
+        configs.put(CosmosDBSourceConfig.COSMOS_CONN_ENDPOINT_CONF, COSMOS_EMULATOR_HOST);
+        configs.put(CosmosDBSourceConfig.COSMOS_CONN_KEY_CONF, COSMOS_EMULATOR_KEY);
+        configs.put(CosmosDBSourceConfig.COSMOS_DATABASE_NAME_CONF, "mydb");
+        configs.put(CosmosDBSourceConfig.COSMOS_CONTAINER_TOPIC_MAP_CONF, "mytopic5#mycontainer6");
+        testTask.start(sourceSettings);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testHandleChanges() throws JsonProcessingException, IllegalAccessException, InterruptedException {
         String jsonString = "{\"k1\":\"v1\",\"k2\":\"v2\", \"_lsn\":\"2\"}";