diff --git a/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.edex.common/src/com/raytheon/edex/utility/ProtectedFiles.java b/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.edex.common/src/com/raytheon/edex/utility/ProtectedFiles.java
index 6cfd33865f..59046214e7 100644
--- a/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.edex.common/src/com/raytheon/edex/utility/ProtectedFiles.java
+++ b/edexOsgi/com.raytheon.edex.common/src/com/raytheon/edex/utility/ProtectedFiles.java
@@ -25,13 +25,12 @@ import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
-import java.util.TreeSet;
 
 import com.raytheon.uf.common.localization.LocalizationContext;
 import com.raytheon.uf.common.localization.LocalizationContext.LocalizationLevel;
@@ -58,6 +57,7 @@ import com.raytheon.uf.common.status.UFStatus.Priority;
  */
 
 public class ProtectedFiles {
+
     private static transient IUFStatusHandler statusHandler = UFStatus
             .getHandler(ProtectedFiles.class);
 
@@ -83,23 +83,6 @@ public class ProtectedFiles {
 
     private static Map<String, ProtectedFiles> sites = new HashMap<String, ProtectedFiles>();
 
-    private Set<String> protectedFiles;
-
-    private LocalizationLevel level;
-
-    private File file;
-
-    private long lastModifiedTime = 0;
-
-    private ProtectedFiles(LocalizationContext context) {
-        level = context.getLocalizationLevel();
-        file = PathManagerFactory.getPathManager()
-                .getLocalizationFile(context, PROTECTED_FILE).getFile();
-        protectedFiles = Collections
-                .synchronizedSortedSet(new TreeSet<String>());
-        reloadFile();
-    }
-
     /**
      * Add the list of protected files into protectedFiles.txt for the site with
      * siteId
@@ -131,7 +114,9 @@ public class ProtectedFiles {
             ProtectedFiles site = getSiteLevelFiles(localizedSite);
             protectedLevel = site.getProtectedLevelInternal(type, path);
         }
-        if (protectedLevel == null) {
+        // base can be null when constructing the base ProtectedFile object and
+        // the ProtectedFiles constructor looks up it's localization file
+        if (protectedLevel == null && base != null) {
             protectedLevel = base.getProtectedLevelInternal(type, path);
         }
 
@@ -154,27 +139,42 @@ public class ProtectedFiles {
         return site;
     }
 
+    private Set<String> protectedFiles;
+
+    private LocalizationLevel level;
+
+    private File file;
+
+    private long lastModifiedTime = 0;
+
+    private ProtectedFiles(LocalizationContext context) {
+        this.level = context.getLocalizationLevel();
+        this.protectedFiles = new LinkedHashSet<String>();
+        this.file = PathManagerFactory.getPathManager()
+                .getLocalizationFile(context, PROTECTED_FILE).getFile();
+        reloadFile();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Write the protectedFiles.txt file.
      */
     private synchronized void writeProtectedFile() {
-        String str;
         try {
             file.createNewFile();
 
             BufferedWriter out = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(file));
             out.write(level == LocalizationLevel.BASE ? BASE_HEADER : String
-                    .format(LEVEL_HEADER, level.toString()));
+                    .format(LEVEL_HEADER, level));
             Iterator<String> iter = protectedFiles.iterator();
             while (iter.hasNext()) {
-                str = iter.next();
-                out.write(str + "\n");
+                out.write(iter.next() + "\n");
             }
 
             out.flush();
             out.close();
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            e.printStackTrace();
+            statusHandler.handle(Priority.PROBLEM,
+                    "Error writing protected file list", e);
         }
     }