Null reference exception using Microsoft.Unity on DisposeOfChildContainer()

Question

I am working on mvc application which also has webapi. Application is throwing System.NullReference Exception in production.
(MVC 5, WebApi 2.0, .Net 4.5, Unity 3.0)
Error message
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
Stack trace
at Unity.Mvc5.UnityDependencyResolver.DisposeOfChildContainer()
at System.Web.HttpApplication.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute()
at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously)
This is how the container is built and is called from Application_Start in global as UnityBootstrapper.Initialize(); -
public static class UnityBootstrapper
public static void Initialize()
var container = BuildUnityContainer();
DependencyResolver.SetResolver(new Unity.Mvc5.UnityDependencyResolver(container));
GlobalConfiguration.Configuration.DependencyResolver = new Unity.WebApi.UnityDependencyResolver(container);
ControllerBuilder.Current.SetControllerFactory(new UnityMvcControllerFactory(container));
private static IUnityContainer BuildUnityContainer()
var container = new UnityContainer();
// MVC/WebApi controller factories
container.RegisterInstance<IHttpControllerActivator>(new UnityApiControllerActivator(container,
new DefaultHttpControllerActivator()));
// NHibernate sessions
container.RegisterInstance<ISessionBuilder>(SessionBuilder.Instance);
container.RegisterType<IClientCodeRequestContext, ClientCodeRequestContext>(
new CurrentRequestContextLifetimeManager<IClientCodeRequestContext>());
container.RegisterType<IUnitOfWork, UnitOfWork>(
new CurrentRequestContextLifetimeManager<IUnitOfWork>(),
new InjectionConstructor(container.Resolve<ISessionBuilder>()));
container.RegisterType<IUnitOfWorkContext>(
new InjectionFactory(c => container.Resolve<IUnitOfWork>().CommonContext));
container.RegisterType<IUnitOfWorkClientContext>(
new InjectionFactory(
c => container.Resolve<IUnitOfWork>()[container.Resolve<IClientCodeRequestContext>().ClientCode]));
//Repositories
container.RegisterType<IUserRepository, UserRepository>();
//Business Logic
container.RegisterType<IMembershipPrincipalBusiness, MembershipPrincipalBusiness>();
// Other
container.RegisterType<IAuthenticationProvider, CoreMembershipProvider>();
return container;
In global.asax.cs-
protected void Application_PostAuthenticateRequest(object sender, EventArgs e)
var principalBusiness = DependencyResolver.Current.GetService<IMembershipPrincipalBusiness>();
The issue is in production only and is caught by newrelic.
Is the exception a bug in unity or something is missed in this implementation. I have been searching the issue since a week but could not get anything.

Answer 1

Hello,
For issues related with MVC, please post it to the MVC forum:http://forums.asp.net/1146.aspx, the current forum is used to discuss and ask questions about .NET Framework Base Classes (BCL) such as Collections,
I/O, Regigistry, Globalization, Reflection.
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