diff --git a/impl/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/DefaultLookupTest.java b/impl/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/DefaultLookupTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..986d9c618c7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/impl/maven-core/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/internal/impl/DefaultLookupTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.maven.internal.impl;
+
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
+import java.util.Optional;
+
+import org.apache.maven.api.services.LookupException;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.PlexusContainer;
+import org.codehaus.plexus.component.repository.exception.ComponentLookupException;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertSame;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+class DefaultLookupTest {
+
+    private PlexusContainer container;
+    private DefaultLookup lookup;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setUp() {
+        container = mock(PlexusContainer.class);
+        lookup = new DefaultLookup(container);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Regression guard for the NPE fix (#12340): when the container returns {@code null} for a type
+     * lookup, {@code lookupOptional} must wrap it with {@link Optional#ofNullable} and return an empty
+     * {@link Optional} rather than throwing a {@link NullPointerException} from {@code Optional.of}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalByTypeReturnsEmptyWhenContainerReturnsNull() throws Exception {
+        when(container.lookup(String.class)).thenReturn(null);
+
+        Optional<String> result = lookup.lookupOptional(String.class);
+
+        assertTrue(result.isEmpty(), "expected empty Optional when container returns null");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Same regression guard as above for the {@code (Class, String)} overload.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalByTypeAndNameReturnsEmptyWhenContainerReturnsNull() throws Exception {
+        when(container.lookup(String.class, "hint")).thenReturn(null);
+
+        Optional<String> result = lookup.lookupOptional(String.class, "hint");
+
+        assertTrue(result.isEmpty(), "expected empty Optional when container returns null");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalByTypeReturnsValueWhenPresent() throws Exception {
+        String value = "component";
+        when(container.lookup(String.class)).thenReturn(value);
+
+        Optional<String> result = lookup.lookupOptional(String.class);
+
+        assertTrue(result.isPresent());
+        assertSame(value, result.get());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalByTypeAndNameReturnsValueWhenPresent() throws Exception {
+        String value = "component";
+        when(container.lookup(String.class, "hint")).thenReturn(value);
+
+        Optional<String> result = lookup.lookupOptional(String.class, "hint");
+
+        assertTrue(result.isPresent());
+        assertSame(value, result.get());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * A {@link ComponentLookupException} whose cause is a {@link NoSuchElementException} signals an
+     * absent component and must be translated into an empty {@link Optional}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalReturnsEmptyOnNoSuchElementCause() throws Exception {
+        ComponentLookupException cle =
+                new ComponentLookupException(new NoSuchElementException(), String.class.getName(), "");
+        assertSame(NoSuchElementException.class, cle.getCause().getClass(), "test fixture precondition");
+        when(container.lookup(String.class)).thenThrow(cle);
+
+        Optional<String> result = lookup.lookupOptional(String.class);
+
+        assertFalse(result.isPresent(), "expected empty Optional when component is absent");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Same as above for the {@code (Class, String)} overload, which has its own catch/translate logic.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalByTypeAndNameReturnsEmptyOnNoSuchElementCause() throws Exception {
+        ComponentLookupException cle =
+                new ComponentLookupException(new NoSuchElementException(), String.class.getName(), "hint");
+        assertSame(NoSuchElementException.class, cle.getCause().getClass(), "test fixture precondition");
+        when(container.lookup(String.class, "hint")).thenThrow(cle);
+
+        Optional<String> result = lookup.lookupOptional(String.class, "hint");
+
+        assertFalse(result.isPresent(), "expected empty Optional when component is absent");
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * A {@link ComponentLookupException} whose cause is NOT a {@link NoSuchElementException} is
+     * rethrown as a {@link LookupException} rather than swallowed into an empty {@link Optional}.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalRethrowsOnNonNoSuchElementCause() throws Exception {
+        ComponentLookupException cle =
+                new ComponentLookupException(new IllegalStateException("boom"), String.class.getName(), "");
+        when(container.lookup(String.class)).thenThrow(cle);
+
+        assertThrows(LookupException.class, () -> lookup.lookupOptional(String.class));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Same as above for the {@code (Class, String)} overload.
+     */
+    @Test
+    void lookupOptionalByTypeAndNameRethrowsOnNonNoSuchElementCause() throws Exception {
+        ComponentLookupException cle =
+                new ComponentLookupException(new IllegalStateException("boom"), String.class.getName(), "hint");
+        when(container.lookup(String.class, "hint")).thenThrow(cle);
+
+        assertThrows(LookupException.class, () -> lookup.lookupOptional(String.class, "hint"));
+    }
+}