diff --git a/Examples/test-suite/lua/overload_null_runme.lua b/Examples/test-suite/lua/overload_null_runme.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..69b7de2db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Examples/test-suite/lua/overload_null_runme.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+require("import")	-- the import fn
+import("overload_null")	-- import lib into global
+
+o = overload_null.Overload()
+x = overload_null.X()
+
+assert(1 == o:byval1(x))
+assert(2 == o:byval1(nil))
+
+assert(3 == o:byval2(nil))
+assert(4 == o:byval2(x))
+
+assert(5 == o:byref1(x))
+assert(6 == o:byref1(nil))
+
+assert(7 == o:byref2(nil))
+assert(8 == o:byref2(x))
+
+assert(9 == o:byconstref1(x))
+assert(10 == o:byconstref1(nil))
+
+assert(11 == o:byconstref2(nil))
+assert(12 == o:byconstref2(x))
+
+-- const pointer references
+assert(13 == o:byval1cpr(x))
+assert(14 == o:byval1cpr(nil))
+
+assert(15 == o:byval2cpr(nil))
+assert(16 == o:byval2cpr(x))
+
+-- forward class declaration
+assert(17 == o:byval1forwardptr(x))
+assert(18 == o:byval1forwardptr(nil))
+
+assert(19 == o:byval2forwardptr(nil))
+assert(20 == o:byval2forwardptr(x))
+
+assert(21 == o:byval1forwardref(x))
+
+assert(22 == o:byval2forwardref(x))
diff --git a/Lib/lua/luarun.swg b/Lib/lua/luarun.swg
index 58ada4d6f..9636cdc9b 100644
--- a/Lib/lua/luarun.swg
+++ b/Lib/lua/luarun.swg
@@ -1765,7 +1765,12 @@ SWIGRUNTIME int  SWIG_Lua_ConvertPtr(lua_State *L,int index,void **ptr,swig_type
 {
   swig_lua_userdata *usr;
   swig_cast_info *cast;
-  if (lua_isnil(L,index)){*ptr=0; return SWIG_OK;}    /* special case: lua nil => NULL pointer */
+  /* special case: lua nil => NULL pointer */
+  if (lua_isnil(L,index))
+  {
+    *ptr=0;
+    return (flags & SWIG_POINTER_NO_NULL) ? SWIG_NullReferenceError : SWIG_OK;
+  }
   usr=(swig_lua_userdata*)lua_touserdata(L,index);  /* get data */
   if (usr)
   {
diff --git a/Lib/lua/luaruntime.swg b/Lib/lua/luaruntime.swg
index 8df46e8cb..399bb640e 100644
--- a/Lib/lua/luaruntime.swg
+++ b/Lib/lua/luaruntime.swg
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@
  * all the runtime code for .
  * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-%runtime "swigrun.swg";         /* Common C API type-checking code */
-%runtime "luarun.swg";          /* Lua runtime stuff */
+%runtime "swigrun.swg"          /* Common C API type-checking code */
+%runtime "swigerrors.swg"       /* SWIG errors */
+%runtime "luarun.swg"           /* Lua runtime stuff */
 
 %insert(initbeforefunc) "swiginit.swg"
 
diff --git a/Lib/lua/luatypemaps.swg b/Lib/lua/luatypemaps.swg
index 4c68d1d1d..8959f201e 100644
--- a/Lib/lua/luatypemaps.swg
+++ b/Lib/lua/luatypemaps.swg
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ SWIGINTERN int SWIG_lua_isnilstring(lua_State *L, int idx) {
 // Also needed for object ptrs by const ref
 // eg A* const& ref_pointer(A* const& a);
 // found in mixed_types.i
-%typemap(in,checkfn="lua_isuserdata") SWIGTYPE *const&($*ltype temp)
+%typemap(in,checkfn="SWIG_isptrtype") SWIGTYPE *const&($*ltype temp)
 %{temp=($*ltype)SWIG_MustGetPtr(L,$input,$*descriptor,0,$argnum,"$symname");
 $1=($1_ltype)&temp;%}
 
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ parameters match which function
 
 %typecheck(SWIG_TYPECHECK_POINTER) SWIGTYPE & {
   void *ptr;
-  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $1_descriptor, 0)) {
+  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $1_descriptor, SWIG_POINTER_NO_NULL)) {
     $1 = 0;
   } else {
     $1 = 1;
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ parameters match which function
 
 %typecheck(SWIG_TYPECHECK_POINTER) SWIGTYPE && {
   void *ptr;
-  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $1_descriptor, 0)) {
+  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $1_descriptor, SWIG_POINTER_NO_NULL)) {
     $1 = 0;
   } else {
     $1 = 1;
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ parameters match which function
 
 %typecheck(SWIG_TYPECHECK_POINTER) SWIGTYPE {
   void *ptr;
-  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $&1_descriptor, 0)) {
+  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $&1_descriptor, SWIG_POINTER_NO_NULL)) {
     $1 = 0;
   } else {
     $1 = 1;
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ parameters match which function
 %typecheck(SWIG_TYPECHECK_POINTER) SWIGTYPE *const&
 {
   void *ptr;
-  if (lua_isuserdata(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $*descriptor, 0)) {
+  if (SWIG_isptrtype(L,$input)==0 || SWIG_ConvertPtr(L,$input, (void **) &ptr, $*descriptor, 0)) {
     $1 = 0;
   } else {
     $1 = 1;