Index: src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/PropertyImpl.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/PropertyImpl.java	(revision 602118)
+++ src/main/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/core/PropertyImpl.java	(working copy)
@@ -445,6 +445,8 @@
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public Value[] getValues() throws ValueFormatException, RepositoryException {
+        PropertyState state = (PropertyState) getItemState();
+
         // check state of this instance
         sanityCheck();
 
@@ -454,7 +456,6 @@
                     + " is not multi-valued");
         }
 
-        PropertyState state = (PropertyState) getItemState();
         InternalValue[] internalValues = state.getValues();
         Value[] values = new Value[internalValues.length];
         for (int i = 0; i < internalValues.length; i++) {
@@ -467,6 +468,8 @@
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     public Value getValue() throws ValueFormatException, RepositoryException {
+        PropertyState state = (PropertyState) getItemState();
+
         // check state of this instance
         sanityCheck();
 
@@ -476,7 +479,6 @@
                     + " is multi-valued and can therefore only be retrieved as an array of values");
         }
 
-        PropertyState state = (PropertyState) getItemState();
         try {
             InternalValue val = state.getValues()[0];
             return val.toJCRValue(session.getNamePathResolver());