diff --git a/worldedit-bukkit/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/bukkit/BukkitAdapter.java b/worldedit-bukkit/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/bukkit/BukkitAdapter.java
index faa7e5b57..f7500168a 100644
--- a/worldedit-bukkit/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/bukkit/BukkitAdapter.java
+++ b/worldedit-bukkit/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/bukkit/BukkitAdapter.java
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
 
 import com.google.common.base.Function;
+import com.sk89q.worldedit.NotABlockException;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.Vector;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.WorldEdit;
+import com.sk89q.worldedit.WorldEditException;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.blocks.BaseItemStack;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.entity.Entity;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.extension.input.InputParseException;
@@ -360,12 +362,12 @@ public static BlockData adapt(BlockStateHolder block) {
      * @param itemStack The Bukkit ItemStack
      * @return The WorldEdit BlockState
      */
-    public static BlockState asBlockState(ItemStack itemStack) {
+    public static BlockState asBlockState(ItemStack itemStack) throws WorldEditException {
         checkNotNull(itemStack);
         if (itemStack.getType().isBlock()) {
             return adapt(itemStack.getType().createBlockData());
         } else {
-            return BlockTypes.AIR.getDefaultState();
+            throw new NotABlockException();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/worldedit-core/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/extension/platform/AbstractPlayerActor.java b/worldedit-core/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/extension/platform/AbstractPlayerActor.java
index 4c3ced012..e738f8004 100644
--- a/worldedit-core/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/extension/platform/AbstractPlayerActor.java
+++ b/worldedit-core/src/main/java/com/sk89q/worldedit/extension/platform/AbstractPlayerActor.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 package com.sk89q.worldedit.extension.platform;
 
+import com.sk89q.worldedit.NotABlockException;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.PlayerDirection;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.Vector;
 import com.sk89q.worldedit.WorldEditException;
@@ -370,7 +371,7 @@ public BaseBlock getBlockInHand(HandSide handSide) throws WorldEditException {
         if (typeId.hasBlockType()) {
             return typeId.getBlockType().getDefaultState().toBaseBlock();
         } else {
-            return BlockTypes.AIR.getDefaultState().toBaseBlock();
+            throw new NotABlockException();
         }
     }